mars!

via Bloomberg:

"We've passed the hardest part and we're breathing again,'' Mars Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein said, according to NASA. The Red Planet's rocky terrain and equipment problems have led to the failure of more than half of all Mars missions, including a Phoenix predecessor destroyed in 1999.

Phoenix sent a signal confirming it landed safely in the northern polar region of Mars, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said on its Web site. The message took 15 minutes to travel to Earth from Mars at the speed of light.