The latest US unmanned probe to Mars has successfully landed and is now broadcasting the first imagery. They include photos of the craft and of its immediate surroundings.
Unlike the Spirit and Opportunity missions, which included mobile rovers that could explore the surrounding areas, the Phoenix is a stationary platform from which experiments will be conducted. It was originally conceived as part of the "faster, better, cheaper" approach to unmanned missions, but when several other Mars probes were lost, the Phoenix mission was scrubbed and rethought. Nearly 50% of missions to Mars have ended in failure.
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