This panorama mosaic, taken by the Surface Stereo Imager on board NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, documents the passage of the midnight sun over several days.

Phoenix performed its first wet chemistry experiment on Martian soil flawlessly, returning a wealth of data from planet Mars that for Phoenix scientists was like winning the lottery.

Crumbs of bright material have vanished from inside a trench where they were photographed by Phoenix four days ago on planet Mars, convincing scientists that frozen water vaporized after digging exposed it.

Nearly two weeks after its historic landing, the US Mars probe Phoenix has scooped up its first sample of Martian soil and begun analysing it for water and organic compounds, a NASA official said.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander reached out and touched the Martian soil for the first time on Saturday, May 31, the first step in a series of actions expected to bring soil and ice to the lander's experiments.

Camera on Phoenix Arm Looks Beneath NASA Mars Lander. A view of the ground underneath NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander adds to evidence that descent thrusters dispersed overlying soil and exposed a harder substrate that may be ice.

Scientists leading NASA's Phoenix Mars mission from the University of Arizona in Tucson sent commands to unstow its robotic arm and take more images of its landing site early today.

First images are coming from Mars exploration mission Phoenix after the spacecraft successfully made landing on Mars.

Phoenix Mars Explorer at 7:54 PM EST successfully landed on planet Mars. Touchdown signal is detected right now as we write this report. NASA reports that "A signal has been detected from Phoenix indicating that the lander is on the surface of Mars."

Phoenix Mars lander is set to make a touch down on Planet Mars at 7:53 PM EST, reports NASA.

On May 25, 2008, approaching 5 p.m. PDT, NASA scientists will be wondering: Just how green is their valley?

A Delta rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral early Saturday, carrying a probe NASA hopes will land on Mars next spring to find out whether the planet can sustain life.