Strange but I always thought Mars was further away from earth than what they say at the end.
By Sky News SkyNews - 1 hour 2 minutes agoUS scientists will today attempt to land a spacecraft near Mars' north pole - but say they not are not overly confident of success.
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Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, puts the odds on accomplishing the mission at less than 50%.
The spacecraft, Phoenix, will enter the Martian atmosphere tonight at about 13,000mph.
It will rely on its thermal shield, then a parachute and thrusters to slow down to a mere 8km per hour before touchdown.
Its destination is the polar region known as Vastitas Borealis, in a similar location to northern Canada on Earth.
If all goes according to plan, Phoenix will become the first spacecraft to land in the Martian arctic.
It will spend the next three months searching for signs of life.
In the past 50 years about half of the three dozen spacecraft sent to Mars have crashed, disappeared or missed the planet altogether.
Mars - known as the red planet and named after the Roman god of war - is 455m miles (679m km) from Earth.
By Sky News SkyNews - 1 hour 2 minutes agoUS scientists will today attempt to land a spacecraft near Mars' north pole - but say they not are not overly confident of success.
(Advertisement)
Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, puts the odds on accomplishing the mission at less than 50%.
The spacecraft, Phoenix, will enter the Martian atmosphere tonight at about 13,000mph.
It will rely on its thermal shield, then a parachute and thrusters to slow down to a mere 8km per hour before touchdown.
Its destination is the polar region known as Vastitas Borealis, in a similar location to northern Canada on Earth.
If all goes according to plan, Phoenix will become the first spacecraft to land in the Martian arctic.
It will spend the next three months searching for signs of life.
In the past 50 years about half of the three dozen spacecraft sent to Mars have crashed, disappeared or missed the planet altogether.
Mars - known as the red planet and named after the Roman god of war - is 455m miles (679m km) from Earth.
