Nasa’s Phoenix spacecraft has touched down on Mars after a historic 423 million mile journey, signifying a historic new phase in the quest to find life on Mars.

Mission controllers in Pasadena, California, erupted into rapturous applause and cheers, some weeping with pride and relief as the spacecraft beamed its first signal back to Earth at 12.53am London time, indicating the $457 million mission’s safe arrival on the Martian surface after a high-risk, high-speed plunge through the planet’s atmosphere.

The unmanned vehicle’s chances of surviving the final seven minutes of its flight - in which it was subjected to temperatures up to 1,427C (2,600F), speeds of up to 12,600mph and which relied on thousands of computer commands playing out perfectly - had been put at just 50-50, leaving engineers who have dedicated their careers to its success chewing on their fingernails. More than 23 previous landing attempts on Mars have ended in tears.

But exactly 15 minutes and 20 seconds after landing, which was subjected to a communications blackout, came the crowning moment of a project that was first hatched a decade ago. Using a fleet of three other spacecraft orbiting overhead to relay its signal to Earth, Phoenix’s on-board computers sent word of its safe arrival.

“Phoenix has landed. Phoenix has landed. Welcome to the surface of Mars,” said Fuk Li, Nasa’s Mars Exploration Programme Manager at the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, as workers exchanged back-slaps and handshakes.

Barry Goldstein, Nasa's Phoenix project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, tore up documents containing contingency plans - which would have been activated in the event of a landing failure - and threw the pieces in the air in triumph.

"In all my dreams it couldn't have gone as perfectly as it did . . . I'm in shock, we had all the signals, everything," he said. "Never even in rehearsal did it go this well."

Despite thousands of boulders and craters on the Martian surface, the four-legged lander has settled on an almost perfectly flat alignment, he reported, tilted at just one-quarter of a degree. Its next stage was to open its solar arrays to soak up energy from the sun and recharge its batteries. It is also due to beam back photographs of never-before-seen shots of Mars' northern tundra.

Phoenix is the first mission to touch and examine water on Mars, potentially paving the way for human exploration within the next three decades or so.

Whereas other vehicles have successfully taken samples from Mars – such as the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which were sent in 2004 to explore for 90 days but are still sending back data four years later - none have landed at the planet’s arctic north as Phoenix has. While they have yielded exciting data as to its geologic history, none have dug for active clues to the existence – past or present – of microbial life forms.

The mission is a joint venture between Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, and Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

Phoenix is named after the mythological bird that rose from the ashes, because it is based on technology used in two previous, unsuccessful Mars missions that left scores of engineers mourning the loss of their life’s work.

“It is a chance for them for closure and a new beginning. It’s hard not to have a deep swell of respect for these veterans,” said University of Arizona mission scientist Patrick Woida. “There has been an extraordinary effort by a small team of brilliant and passionate people. “

Phoenix is 18ft long, seven feet tall and has travelled from Earth over the last ten months at speeds of up to 74,000mph. Motorists troubled by rising fuel costs on Earth may marvel at the spacecraft’s performance - it has reached its destination at a fuel economy of two million miles to the gallon.

Using a mechanical arm and tools, it will dig deep into the ice-rich soil close to the planet’s North Pole, then analyse the samples. Special cameras carried on board will also provide unprecedented views of Mars.

Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, the project’s leader, said: “We bet the whole farm on this safe landing.”

Prior to the landing, those who have worked on Phoenix were reminded of the scientific enormity of the project. “Today we have a chance to place our tile in the halls of history,” they were told.

The Phoenix Lander

18 feet length of the craft when the solar panels are extended. It measures 7ft (2.2m) from the ground to the top of its mast

772Ib The craft’s weight, although the vehicle used to blast it into space weighed 628,820Ib (285,228kg)

74,000mph Speed that the craft travelled on its way to Mars

423 million number of miles that it travelled after blasting off last August

Source: Nasa

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