Nasa probe sends Mars pictures
Phoenix spacecraft beams images of distant planet just hours after landing.
“Absolutely beautiful,” Dan McCleese, chief scientist at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said.
“It looks like a good place to start digging.”
Phoenix was the first spacecraft ever to land in Mars’ high northern latitudes.
During its 90-day mission, Phoenix Mars is to excavate soil and ice as part of a study to learn whether the planet could have supported microbial life.
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The last time Nasa tried was in 1999 when the Mars Polar lander suffered engine failure and crashed into the south pole.
It has an onboard laboratory to heat the soil and analyse the vapours for traces of organic compounds, an essential ingredient for life.