How NASA's Phoenix Will Land on Mars

By Jeremy Hsu Staff Writer posted: 14 May 2008 07:58 am ET

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander aims to not flame out when it descends to the arctic surface of the red planet in less than two weeks.

The new Martian probe will try to avoid the fate of its crashed predecessor, NASA's Mars Polar Lander, when deploying a parachute and braking rockets to slow its plunge and make a successful three-point landing.

"This is not a trip to grandma's house," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C. "Putting a spacecraft safely on Mars is hard and risky."

Phoenix managers refer to the probe's descent as "seven minutes of terror" that will define the future of the spacecraft's $420-million mission. The robotic arm-equipped spacecraft is due to land near the Martian north pole on May 25 to study nearby water ice and determine if the region was once habitable for primitive life.

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