NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is preparing to end its long journey and begin a three-month mission to taste and sniff fistfuls of Martian soil and buried ice.
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Science Mission Directorate
NASA uses orbiting observers and robotic landers to investigate the planets, moons, comets, and asteroids of our Solar System.
Latest Features
NASA Phoenix Mission Ready for Mars Landing
Phoenix Flying True Enough to Skip One Scheduled Adjust...
Intense Testing Paved Phoenix Road to Mars
When NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander descends to the surface of the Red Planet on May 25, few will be watching as closely as those who have spent years planning, analyzing and conducting tests to prepare f...
More Features
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Striking a Balance with Climate Change
The sun has powered almost everything on Earth since life began, including its climate.
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Mars Orbiter Eyes Dust Devils at Phoenix Landing Site
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured an image of dust devils -- swirling dust storms -- near the landing site for the Mars Phoenix lander on the northern Martian plains.
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Saturn Does the Wave in Upper Atmosphere
Two decades of scrutinizing Saturn are finally paying off, as scientists have discovered a wave pattern, or oscillation, in Saturn's atmosphere only visible from Earth every 15 years.
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Q&A: Titan's Smoggy Sand Grains
NASA scientist Jason Barnes says Titan and Earth have much in common, but not when it comes to sand.
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Jupiter's Shadow Sculpts Its Rings
Using data from NASA's Galileo spacecraft, scientists have shown that Jupiter's shadow is shaping the planet's rings and the orbits of particles within the rings.
Press Releases
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New NASA Moon Mission Begins Integration of Science Instruments
04.16.08 - Several instruments that will help NASA characterize the moon's surface have been installed on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO.
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NASA Statement on Student Asteroid Calculations
04.16.08 - The Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has not changed its current estimates for the very low probability (1 in 45,000) of an Earth impact by the asteroid Apophis in 2036.
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NASA Extends Cassini's Grand Tour of Saturn
04.15.08 - NASA is extending the international Cassini-Huygens mission by two years. The historic spacecraft's stunning discoveries and images have revolutionized our knowledge of Saturn and its moons.
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NASA Spacecraft Fine Tunes Course for Mars Landing
04.10.08 - NASA engineers have adjusted the flight path of the Phoenix Mars Lander, setting the spacecraft on course for its May 25th landing on the Red Planet.
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 "What's Up?")
Podcasts
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NASACast: Solar System
Audio and Video podcasts on NASA missions exploring our solar system.
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NASACast: What's Up?
NASA's monthly guide to watching the night sky.
Media Resources
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Report to Congress on Near Earth Objects
03.09.07 - A report on surveying potentially hazardous objects and developing alternatives for diverting them.
› View Report (771Kb PDF)