07.21.08 - NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Works Through the Night
To coordinate with observations made by an orbiter flying repeatedly overhead, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is working a schedule Monday that includes staying awake all night for the first time.

07.15.08 - NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander to Begin Rasping Frozen Layer
A powered rasp on the back of the robotic arm scoop of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is being tested for the first time on Mars in gathering sample shavings of ice.

07.11.08 - NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Uses Soil Probe and Swiss Scope
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has touched Martian soil with a fork-like probe for the first time and begun using a microscope that examines shapes of tiny particles by touching them.

07.07.08 - NASA's Phoenix Lander Delivers Soil-Chemistry Sample
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander used its Robotic Arm to deliver a second sample of soil for analysis

07.01.08 - Phoenix Scrapes 'Almost Perfect' Icy Soil for Analysis
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander enlarged the "Snow White" trench and scraped up little piles of icy soil on Saturday, June 28.

06.27.08 - Cassini to Earth: 'Mission Accomplished, but New Questions Await!'
NASA's Cassini mission is closing one chapter of its journey at Saturn and embarking on a new one.

06.27.08 - Phoenix Returns Treasure Trove for Science
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander performed its first wet chemistry experiment on Martian soil flawlessly yesterday, returning a wealth of data that for Phoenix scientists was like winning the lottery.

06.25.08 - NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Puts Soil in Chemistry Lab, Team Discusses Next Steps
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander placed a sample of Martian soil in the spacecraft's wet chemistry laboratory today for the first time.

06.24.08 - Phoenix Poised to Deliver Sample for Wet Chemistry
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander repositioned its robotic arm slightly today and is now poised to deliver Martian soil to its wet chemistry laboratory.

06.24.08 - Moon-Bound NASA Spacecraft Passes Major Preflight Tests
Engineering teams are conducting final checkouts of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, that will take a significant step forward in the search for water on the moon.

06.23.08 - Phoenix Lander Prepares for Microscopy, Wet Chemistry on Mars
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has delivered a scoop of Martian soil from the "Snow White" trenches to the optical microscope for analysis tomorrow, June 24.

06.21.08 - NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Delivers Soil Sample to Microscope
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Saturday beamed back images showing that Phoenix's Robotic Arm successfully sprinkled soil onto the delivery port of the lander's Optical Microscope.

06.20.08 - NASA Phoenix Mars Lander Confirms Frozen Water
Scientists relishing confirmation of water ice near the surface beside NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander anticipate even bigger discoveries from the robotic mission in the weeks ahead.

06.17.08 - Phoenix Makes First Trench in Science Preserve
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander began digging in an area called "Wonderland" early Tuesday, taking its first scoop of soil from a polygonal surface feature within the "national park" region.

06.16.08 - NASA Phoenix Lander Bakes Sample, Arm Digs Deeper
One of the ovens on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander continued baking its first sample of Martian soil over the weekend, while the Robotic Arm dug deeper into the soil to learn more about white material first revealed on June 3.

06.13.08 - NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Inspects Delivered Soil Samples
New observations from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander provide the most magnified view ever seen of Martian soil, showing particles clumping together even at the smallest visible scale.

06.12.08 - NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Delivers Soil Sample to Microscope
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander sprinkled a spoonful of Martian soil Wednesday onto the sample wheel of the spacecraft's robotic microscope station, images received early Thursday confirmed.

06.12.08 - International Mission Studying Sun to Conclude
Ulysses, a joint NASA and European Space Agency mission to study the sun, will end on or about July 1, after 17 years of pioneering sun studies.

06.11.08 - GLAST in Orbit!
At 12:05 p.m. EDT, the Delta II rocket easily lifted the GLAST spacecraft off the launch pad, out of smoke and clouds and into a beautiful Florida sky headed for space.

06.11.08 - NASA's Phoenix Lander has an Oven Full of Martian Soil
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has filled its first oven with Martian soil.

06.10.08 - NASA Lander Will Sprinkle Martian Soil for Microscope to View
The team operating NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander plans to instruct the spacecraft to use its Robotic Arm to sprinkle a spoonful of Martian soil onto a wheel that will rotate the sample into place for viewing by the spacecraft's Optical Microscope.

06.09.08 - NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Testing Sprinkle Technique
Engineers operating the Robotic Arm on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander are testing a revised method for delivering soil samples to laboratory instruments on Phoenix's deck.

06.08.08 - Phoenix Sifts for Samples, Continues Imaging Landing Site
Phoenix's activities continue.

06.05.08 - Highest Resolution Image of Dust and Sand Acquired on Mars
This mosaic of four side-by-side microscope images (one a color composite) was acquired by the Optical Microscope, a part of the Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) instrument suite on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander.

06.04.08 - NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Ready to Gather Samples
Two practice rounds of digging and dumping soil at the Martian arctic site this week gave team members confidence to begin using Phoenix's Robotic Arm to deliver soil samples to instruments on the lander deck.

06.02.08 - NASA's Phoenix Scoops Up Martian Soil
One week after landing on far-northern Mars, NASA Phoenix spacecraft lifted its first scoop of Martian soil as a test of the lander's Robotic Arm.

06.01.08 - NASA'S Phoenix Lander Makes an Impression on Mars
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander reached out and touched the Martian soil for the first time on Saturday, May 31, the first step in a series of actions expected to bring soil and ice to the lander's experiments.

05.31.08 - Camera on Arm Looks Beneath NASA Mars Lander
A view of the ground underneath NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander adds to evidence that descent thrusters dispersed overlying soil and exposed a harder substrate that may be ice.

05.30.08 - NASA'S Phoenix Lander Robotic Arm Camera Sees Possible Ice
Scientists have discovered what may be ice that was exposed when soil was blown away as NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed on Mars last Sunday, May 25.

05.29.08 - NASA Phoenix Mars Lander Puts Arm and Other Tools to Work
NASA's Mars lander is returning more detailed images from the Martian surface and is now preparing its instruments for science operations.