Robot Geologist Heads to Mars

An unmanned rocket carrying a robotic excavation machine is on its way to Mars following a successful launch from Cape Canaveral this morning. The AP reports that the Phoenix Mars Lander should arrive on Mars in May, 2008, when it will collect and analyze soil and ice in search of organic compounds on the red planet.

NASA decided to launch the rocket towards the north of Mars, where organic material may be preserved under a sheet of ice as hard as concrete. This mission marks the first attempt by the space agency to land on north Mars after several failed touchdowns; NASA's 1999 lander sent to the planet's south pole failed to communicate.