Mars Photo of the Day

Mon, May 26, 2008 at 6:55:52 pm PDT

How cool is this? A satellite orbiting Mars actually got a photo of the Phoenix probe parachuting down to the surface.

PASADENA, California (Reuters) - A sharp-eyed Mars orbiter snapped an image of sister probe Phoenix descending through Martian skies toward a polar landing site to search for water and assess conditions for life, mission managers said on Monday.

Phoenix touched down at 4:53 p.m. PDT (7:53 p.m. EDT/2353 GMT) on Sunday, becoming the first spacecraft to reach a polar region of Mars. Problems during descent doomed NASA’s first polar lander in 1999.

The unprecedented image, taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as a result of careful planning and good luck, shows the small probe dangling beneath its parachute.