spacecraft landed safely on Mars near its north pole....

One of the first color images from the Phoenix Mars Lander shows the surface of Mars after the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft landed successfully in the first-ever touchdown near Mars' north pole May 25, 2008.

One of the first color images from the Phoenix Mars Lander shows the surface of Mars after the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft landed successfully in the first-ever touchdown near Mars' north pole May 25, 2008.

President of the Canadian Space Agency Guy Bujold, Phoenix Mars Lander principal investigator, Peter Smith (L) of the University of Arizona and JPL project manager for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Barry Goldstein (R) pose with a model of the Phoenix Mars Lander after a media briefing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, after the spacecraft landed safely on Mars near its north pole, May 25, 2008.The spacecraft features a Canadian meteorological station, which Canada spent $37 million to create and which will help scientists gain insight about the environment around the landing site.

Phoenix Mars Lander principal investigator Peter Smith (L) of the University of Arizona and Barry Goldstein, JPL project manager for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, show the first color image from the Phoenix Mars Lander during a press briefing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California after the spacecraft landed safely on Mars near its north pole May 25, 2008.

This Phoenix mini-DVD, made of silica glass launched in August 2007 on its way to Mars on the spacecraft Phoenix, is seen in this undated publicity photograph. It is encoded with a collection of scientific and science-fiction texts about Mars, depictions of Mars in art and messages to future settlers of Mars. Also included are 250,000 names of Planetary Society members and others who signed up to send their name to Mars.

NASA dedah imej kutub utara planet Marikh

PASADENA - Sebuah kapal angkasa peninjau milik Pentadbiran Aeronautik dan Angkasa Lepas Kebangsaan (NASA), Amerika Syarikat kelmarin berjaya mendarat di bahagian kutub utara planet Marikh yang dipercayai mengandungi simpanan als dalam tanah.

Beberapa jam selepas kapal Phoenix Mars Lander mendarat, ia mula mengagumkan para saintis dengan menghantar beberapa imej planet Marikh yang tidak pernah dilihat sebelum ini.

Imej tersebut mendedahkan bahawa keadaan muka bumi kutub utara planet itu mempunyai kesan seperti segi empat yang hampir sama dengan kawasan permafrost yang boleh didapati di Bumi.

Corak geometri seperti itu dipercayai mempunyai kaitan dengan aktiviti beku dan mencair yang berlaku di kawasan berkenaan. "Ini merupakan satu mimpi untuk para saintis,' kata ketua penyelidik, Peter Smith dari Universiti Arizona dalam satu sidang media selepas pendaratan
itu.

Kapal angkasa itu mendarat di planet Marikh selepas melakukan perjalanan selama 10 bulan yang merangkumi jarak 679 kilometer.

Seminggu selepas mendarat, kapal angkasa itu akan memulakan misi menggali selama 90 hari bagi mengkaji sama ada bahagian kutub planet itu mengandungi bahan yang diperlukan untuk kehidupan.

Phoenix akan menyertai dua lagi robot yang telah menjelajah permukaan Marikh sejak 2004 tetapi berbeza dengan robot yang lain kapal angkasa itu direka untuk kekal di satu posisi dan hanya menggali tanah. - AP

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/