Landing was a huge success. The first pictures from Mars were amazing! And they continue to be so. We've seen Mars as no one before, landing in the Martian Arctic for the first time. We've seen Mars at the microscopic level, for the first time ever. And we've had a few, shall I say, surprises. Apparently a spring from the bio barrier bag popped off during deployment and landed by one of the footpads. No big deal, but a big surprise. Then TEGA had some major problems; they discovered a short circuit that was bad. But the team came up with some work arounds, and things proceeding just fine. Then the RAC took a picture underneath the lander, and found something that could be ice excavated by the descent thrusters! I'll keep you appraised as determinations come in. And most recently, the dirt delivered to TEGA was a bit clumpy and we've had a tough time getting dirt through the screen and into the oven. We were doing some major testing on that here in the PIT. But finally, we got Oven Full confirmation. Science begins today. Ups and downs, as we expect, but a huge success. I can't wait to see what surprises we get next.

This shows a color image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. It shows the Phoenix lander with its solar panels deployed on the Mars surface.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver. -Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona