The scientific world is gearing up for the first soft landing on May 25 of a spacecraft on Mars in 30 years. The Phoenix mission i s a product of the University of Arizona. This w eek's issue of the journal Science takes a look at the challenges in Phoenix's rise from the ashes of the failed Mars Polar Lander, which is presumed to have crashed during its landing attempt.
Phoenix is set to land in frozen polygonal terrain, whose characteristics are similar to areas of the Earth with near-surface water ice. [left, NASA/Univ AZ; below, Corby Waste/Jet Propulsion Lab]