NASA’s Phoenix spacecraft successfully landed on Mars’ frigid north pole region in a risk-fraught mission to search for signs of habitability

Fresh images sent back by NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander from the Martian northern polar region showed most of its science instruments were in good..

Phoenix managed an almost perfect landing in a relatively rock-free, flat target area in the flat circumpolar region known as Vastitas Borealis — akin to northern Canada in Earth’s latitude

The 420-million-dollar spacecraft is designed to help scientists assess whether the Martian arctic has ever had conditions favorable to microbial life.