Like its namesake, the Phoenix Mission rises from the ashes of so many previously unsuccessful attempts to explore the Red Planet. But for NASA, the passion for Mars that started with the Mariner and Viking programs of the sixties can't be snuffed out that easily. The Phoenix's mission is to study the history of water and potential habitability in the Martian arctic's ice-rich soil.

In August 2007, scientists behind the Phoenix mission successfully launched a lander on a nine-month voyage to Mars. The Phoenix was the first spacecraft to probe the Martian arctic, landing near 70 degrees north latitude and uncovered clues in the icy soil of the Martian arctic about the history of near-surface ice and its potential for habitability.