Looks like JPL NASA and members of the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona will be sleeping soundly tonight, or maybe they’ll be up all night from anxiety.  I’d probably be in the latter.

Their joint project to drop the Phoenix lander onto the surface of Mars has gone successfully thus far.  Launched in August 2007, the lander is designed to study the Northern pole of the Red Planet, digging into the surface to gather ice samples and data regarding prospects of past ice and water floes.  It landed safely at about 7.53p EST, and only a quarter of a degree off level.

Pretty impressive, if you ask me.

The teams will be posting status updates and media from the lander to the official Phoenix project Website.