Mission to Mars's northern polar region

NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission, which launched on 4 August, is scheduled to arrive at Mars on 25 May 2008 to examine the surface of the planet's northern polar region, study the formation and melting histories of ice, monitor weather, and investigate the subsurface environment. “Our instruments are specially designed to find evidence for periodic melting of the ice and to assess whether this large region represents a habitable environment for Martian microbes,” said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. For more information, visit the Web site: http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix.