Successful Touchdown For Mars Phoenix Lander - NASA - NASA TV

NASA - NASA TV

" A signal has been detected from Phoenix indicating that the lander is on the surface of Mars. " - NASA

The Phoenix has landed on Mars, after a journey more of more than 420 million miles, followed tonight by a flawless entry, descent and landing sequence, (there wasn't even the expected 'plasma blackout') which was broadcast just now on NASA TV - so many congratulations are in order to everyone involved.

Even though we were watching a simulation, and most of the action was in the Mission Control room, the tension during the 'seven minutes of terror' was palpable, despite the whoops that punctuated the silence as one stage after another of the EDL was negotiated - with the biggest cheer coming when touchdown was confirmed.

This from the NASA press release...

"We've passed the hardest part and we're breathing again, but we still need to see that Phoenix has opened its solar arrays and begun generating power," said JPL's Barry Goldstein, the Phoenix project manager. If all goes well, engineers will learn the status of the solar arrays between 7 and 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time (10 and 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time) from a Phoenix transmission relayed via NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter.

The team will also be watching for the Sunday night transmission to confirm that masts for the stereo camera and the weather station have swung to their vertical positions.

"What a thrilling landing! But the team is waiting impatiently for the next set of signals that will verify a healthy spacecraft," said Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, principal investigator for the Phoenix mission. "I can hardly contain my enthusiasm. The first landed images of the Martian polar terrain will set the stage for our mission."

The craft has landed perfectly, standing on the surface tilted at an angle of a quarter of a degree - and at the time of writing, confirmation that the solar panels have opened is being anxiously awaited, but assuming that goes ahead as planned, the rest of the 3-month mission should be able to proceed on schedule.

Update 3.54 am CET - the solar arrays have opened, and the first 'crystal clear' images of the surface of arctic Mars have been transmitted back to Earth.

see also :: Phoenix Mars Lander - University of Arizona

NASA Phoenix Blog