Phoenix Lander Arrives at Mars

Back in the day when I first got to Uni, the plan was to be an astrophysicist. I saw NASA as a viable career choice. Academia wasn’t enough like Star Trek that it could hold me long, but I still get a vicarious thrill from watching space exploration and dreaming of alien worlds to explore one day.

The Phoenix Lander is just getting to Mars today and starting its descent. But the red planet has managed to take out as many probes as have made it to the surface of the planet, so the outcome is far from certain.

So, geek out a little with this footage from NASA of the projected landing.

[Update : You can actually watch the Lander run up live on NASA TV starting @ 6 PM EDT.]