Phoenix Rises Up on Mars

Cheers swept through Mission Control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory when the touchdown signal from the Phoenix Mars Lander was detected after a nail-biting descent, as the mission faced a 50:50 chance of success.





"In my dreams it couldn't have gone as perfectly as it went," NASA project manager Barry Goldstein said.

Phoenix plunged into the Martian atmosphere at more than 12,000 mph (19,200 kilometers per hour) after a 10-month, 422 million-mile (675 million-kilometer) voyage through space.

Among Phoenix's first tasks were to check its power supply and the health of its science instruments, and unfurl its solar panels after the dust settled.

Sunday's touchdown was the first successful soft landing on Mars since the twin Viking landers touched down in 1976.

With all the bad news we are treated with daily on this Earth, it's more than comforting to know we can manage feats like this in this chaos. Congratulations NASA - well done!

Cybercast credit: Yahoo Video