May
26
Phoenix launched on August 4, 2007, and landed at 23:38 Orbiter UTC on May 25, 2008 in Mars’ water-ice-rich northern polar region of Vastitas Borealis at 68.2°N 234.3°W. It will now use its robotic arm to dig into the arctic terrain. Confirmation of the spacecraft’s successful touchdown was received at 7:53:44 PM EDT. Phoenix is the sixth successful Mars lander and the first since Viking 1 & 2 in 1976 to use powered descent.