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Phoenix mission ready for Mars landing

Published: May 13, 2008 at 1:00 PM
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A new space explorer, Phoenix is pictured in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 10, 2007. The Phoenix will launch aboard a Delta II rocket to Mars and will dig in the soil and ice in the arctic region of the planet. Both the rocket and spacecraft are undergoing final preparations for the mission. (UPI Photo/Kim Shiflett/NASA) | Enlarge

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PASADENA, Calif., May 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says its Phoenix Lander is preparing to land on Mars and begin a three-month mission to examine the planet's soil and buried ice.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the lander is scheduled to touch down May 25 on Mars.

"This is not a trip to grandma's house," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "Internationally, fewer than half (of similar) attempts have succeeded."

The space agency said Phoenix will enter the Martian atmosphere at nearly 13,000 mph. In seven minutes, the spacecraft must slow to about 5 mph before its three legs reach the ground. Confirmation of the landing could come as early as 7:53 p.m. EDT May 25, NASA said.

"The Phoenix mission not only studies the northern permafrost region but takes the next step in Mars exploration by determining whether this region, which may encompass as much as 25 percent of the Martian surface, is habitable," said Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator at the University of Arizona.

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith, with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory responsible for its management.