Like its mythological bird namesake, the Phoenix Lander, will rise from "the ashes" to be "reborn" for a mission to Mars in 2007. This space craft, originally the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander, was "grounded" when its mission was canceled after the loss of its twin, the Mars Polar Lander . Now, part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program and the first Mars Scout mission, the Phoenix heads to the Martian arctic in search of water and signs of life.

Spruced up and equipped with improved instruments, the Phoenix Lander travels to Mars to sift through Martian arctic soil. If all goes as planned, by June 2008, the Phoenix will land in what is believed to have once been a deep ocean basin in the planet's distant past. It is headed for a section of Mars believed to hold nearly 80% water-ice by volume within the top 50 cm of the surface. Gathering and testing surface and subsurface soils, it will hunt for clues to the origin of the circumpolar ice. Digging with a robotic arm, it will carve out a trench, in some places as deep as one meter. The trench itself will be analyzed through imaging systems.

A successful Phoenix mission will tell us more about the "near-surface" ices and the history of Martian soil. On Mars, reservoirs of water ice will be examined, up close and personal, and we hope the results will give us clues as to whether life might survive or once survived in the soil. With the ability to examine materials 1000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, the Phoenix will look for evidence of life and samples of water.

Secrets to the history of Mars are locked in its waters. Just as clues to Earth's past are frozen in rocks and soil, Mars's history may be etched in its frozen soil. Liquid water interacts with soil in predictable ways. When water ice melts, wets the soil, and freezes again, a story of change is written. Despite its current dry state, Mars shows signs of a once active water cycle, perhaps similar to Earth's. During this change, the land may have been carved and shaped. The story of the Martian past may be written in the dirt and ice of its present.

The Phoenix mission plans to help tell this story.

What do you think?

What are the basic "needs" for living things?

Are these needs "universal?"

If water suggests life, what kind of life might scientists find on Mars?

Would you find similar life on Earth? Where?

What else would you want to know about Mars before heading there?