Phoenix Arrives Safely!

Left: CLUES IN THE CRACKS: The flat landscape is strewn with tiny pebbles and shows polygonal cracking, a pattern seen widely in Martian high latitudes and also in permafrost terrains on Earth. The polygonal cracking apparently resulted from seasonal freezing and thawing of surface ice. This is an approximate-color image taken shortly after landing by the craft's Surface Stereo Imager, inferred from two filters: a violet, 450-nanometer filter and an infrared, 750-nanometer filter. May 26, 2008


Wow! This patterned, polygonal ground is exactly what they were expecting! There is, or once was, ice in this ground! Similar patterns can be found in icy ground on Earth. I hope they find ice!

Here is the U of A Web Site.






Left and below: Photo credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona