NASA's newest outpost in the solar system is a polygon-cracked terrain in Mars' northern polar region believed to hold a reservoir of ice beneath. Hours after the Phoenix Mars Lander softly landed Sunday in the Martian arctic plains, it dazzled scientists with the first-ever glimpse of the Red Planet's high northern latitudes. A flood of images sent back by Phoenix revealed a landscape similar to what can be found in Earth's permafrost regions _ geometric patterns in the soil likely related to the freezing and thawing of ground ice. «This is a scientist's dream, right here on this landing site,» principal investigator Peter Smith, of the University of Arizona, Tucson, said in a post-landing news conference. Phoenix landed on Mars after a 10-month, 422 million-mile (679 million-kilometer) journey. After a week checking out its science instruments, the lander will begin a 90-day digging mission to study whether the northern polar region possesses the raw ingredients needed for life to emerge. Phoenix joins the twin rovers on the Martian surface, which have been exploring the equatorial plains since 2004. Unlike the mobile rovers, Phoenix was designed to stay in one spot and dig trenches in the soil. Early indications show the lander is healthy, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory project manager Barry Goldstein said. The images confirm the lander unfurled its solar panels, hoisted its weather mast and unwrapped the protective covering of its 8-foot-long (2.4 meter-long) robotic arm. It will be several days before the arm will be unstowed, the Associated Press reported.
