Phoenix Mars Mission

From WikiCover

Launched on August 4, 2007, headed for Mars and scheduled to land on May 25, 2008, the Phoenix will study the planet's arctic soil to characterize the climate and geology of Mars. One of the key tasks assigned the Lander is to help determine whether microbial life ever existed on Mars.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission is a joint project managed by the University of Arizona, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, and the California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Resources from these organizations joined forces to build the hardware and components necessary for the Lander to achieve the mission objectives. The hardware on the craft, including TEGA, will provide scientific measurements that will characterize the current and past climate, geology, and presence of organics on the planet. The information gathered will also provide insight into how to make human exploration of Mars possible.