... for a new Earth colony. Star Trek was a work of fiction! We already know that there is no such place in our solar system; with a purpose-built atmosphere complete with ozone layer, which oxygen breathing, sun sensitive organisms such as humans could inhabit. It took the early bacteria about ...

Angus MacFergus, Auckland, New Zealand

... a billion years to make our atmosphere, so it's not happening any time soon on Mars, or any of Saturn's moons. And another solar system would be just too far away. So unfortunately, we are stuck here on Earth despite the over-crowding - ergo please don't litter, boys and girls!

Angus MacFergus, Auckland, New Zealand

Millercs1 in South Jordan, apparently more than just a few eggheads are interested if the notes written here are any judge. Just because you're unimaginative and earth-bound, doesn't mean the rest of us are. BTW, Canada is very proud of its contribution to this mission.

Sarah, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Martin Symington: I too was wondering about lat-lon. The poles are fixed by the rotation of the planet and hence north pole (lat 90) is established. However as on earth, there is no geographical reference. The queen established greenwich as that reference. Is there a queen on mars?

Sidney , Plano, Texas,

There is something wrong when we can look for ice on Mars but can't look for murderers such as Usama bin Laden in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. What happened to the UN?

Wallace Edward Brand, Alexandria, VA, US

Get over yourselves cynics. This is a great achievement and should be applauded. Try and think outside of your own dull existances.

DC, London,

Some people need to understand the concept of planning ahead, it's a long journey to find feasible ways for the human race to continue forever after our sun/planet has died. This "why should my taxes be spent contributing to the future good when I could benefit directly from it" attitude sickens me.

David, Bristol, England

what a wonderful accomplishment ....It proves that mankind's sense of adventure remains strong ... at least amonst some on our planet... and adventure is progress initiating ... hats off to NASA .... well done chaps

Pierre, Brugge, BLG

To all those complaining about the funding that NASA gets, I say DOUBLE IT! Congratulations to NASA, JPL, and the folks at Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Littleton, Colorado who built this superb machine. Well done all around.

Paul Woodside, San Jose, California

Truly amazing NASA!! When humans finally make it off Earth, they will have the men and women of these early, remarkable missions to thank.

Congratulations!

Shane Stevens, London, UK

Olga, I can't agree. If you want to save money, don't waste it on aid to countries run by idiots. After all the promise of the moon landings in the 70's it's great to see space exploration taking off again. Yes, there's more to be done on earth, but we also need to look at the big picture.

David Ashton, Bathurst, Australia

Its a truely amazing achievement, i will be following it up throughout the 6 months before it freezes over. and its not allot of money considering that $500m was over a 10 year period and paid for over 1000 jobs, not to mention all the technology researched and materials use.

Dane arries, newcastle, uk

I can't wait for it to start digging! The pictures are good but nothing compared to the pictures of Titan (Saturn's moon). It was astonishing how much it looked like Earth.

Meera, Reading, UK

Congratulations to all those involved in this amazing accomplishment.

G, Shropshire, UK

To tony burleton. The craft would not enter the atmosphere at 90 degrees as it would disintegrate. Rather the approach is oblique, wide enough to be captured by the atmosphere and use the friction to slow the craft, but narrow enough that it doesn't skip off like a stone. Follow with chutes and jets

Rohan Davies, Brisbane, Australia

If you go to Mars, you see nothing, yet there are more people living there than on Earth, they say. But they don't bury the dead on Mars, so digging is futile.

Jaap den Haan, Namen,

What a wondeful success story. Well done NASA and congrats to the British team involved as well.

Michael Birbeck, Ongar , Essex

This is wonderful news and a great accomplishment. And NASA is probably the most cost-effective agency in the federal government.

The cynics out there... feel free to stop following this story, I know it makes you uncomfortable. Go back to bitching about Iraq and everything else.

gb, Austin, USA

It was built In Colorado, USA. !! (Littelton, near Denver).

Perry, Denver, USA

An exponentially expanding population depleting irreplaceable resources will ultimately prove Malthus to be correct. Therefore one of the few real options to continue the existence of the human race is to find a way off this rock and make our way to another. Its continued existence isn’t going to be achieved by spending money to further propagate the population here.
The visit to Mars is just one of the stepping stones.

Nigel, KL, Malaysia

Regarding the Beagle 2...As an American, I feel Professor Colin Pillinger should someway be honored by the international space community (NASA, ESA, etc.) for his scientific dedication to Mars. It is quite sad the man has multiple sclerosis and may not have that much longer to live.

Chris, Baltimore, USA

His enthusiasm for the Beagle 2 made him seem like a character in a Greek tragedy when the Beagle 2 mission failed. However, with every failure, a new lesson is learned. This one is Delta DOR.

Chris, Baltimore, USA

Delta-DOR uses two widely separated antennas to simultaneously track a transmitting probe in order to measure the time difference (delay time) between signals arriving at the two stations. ). This system assisted the Phoenix landing. You might say the death of a beagle insured the life of a phoenix

Chris, Baltimore, USA

Sending a small craft such an enormous distance, then landing it where you want it and then cap it all with pictures of such clarity goes beyond belief. Absolutely well done to NASA.

John Wilkins, Gosport, UK

...and I should add the freefall stage is when the retro-rockets then go off, as mentioned in the article...

Philip Stobbart, London, England

Re: Tony Burleton, Phoenix had something called an aeroshell (shown in picture 3), which is a heat shield that uses atmospheric friction to slow it down. When it's slow enough, a parachute is deployed to slow it further. Then, it's designed to go into freefall for the last km or so until landing.

Philip Stobbart, London, England

Congrats to the team in Pasadena and all the others involved in this mission!

N George, Newport, Wales

NASA should send a couple of monkeys (male/female) and check back in a few million years. They may find the human race at war with each other armed with nuclear weapons. How exciting would that be? Oh wait, we've already seen that here.

jayil, london, uk

According to my arithmetical calculations the average speed of the Phoenix was 60,000 mph and speed of interception at 90 degree angle to Mars Orbit would be 81,000 mph. Am I correct?
If so what method was used to slow the vehicle down as it approached Mars?

tony burleton, Wembley, England

Well done NASA - but the pic's from Mars look exactly like the desert between Riyadh and Bahrain - hope they find more intelligent life there than ther is here.

Jim, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Its a wonderful acheivement.

Allen Altman St. Augustine, Florida

Allen Altman, st. Augustine, united States

A truly wonderous achievement well done NASA

Gloria Gill, Penarth, Wales. GB

It is true that it is a great step for man but while we are spending huge amounts of money to know what's beyond us, we dont fully know our own planet....This money should be used to save our beloved earth and not to look for means of escape from the boat we are all in...!...

Olga, Limoges, France

Wow, brilliant news. Have just seen the photos but wait, whats that? Oh No, it's got a parking ticket...just shows that there isn't intelligent life on Mars either.

Mike Jones, Farnborough, Hampshire

Wow this is amazing- 423 MILLION miles!? Well Done NASA!

tam, Northampton, UK

It was said that the miner, the teacher, the nurse, the shopworker paid for concorde and obtained no benefit - but we did, we were the ones on the ground pointing when it flew over ...... like billions of people now looking at another planet

John Alford, Madrid, Spain

"How interesting, yawn,yawn. Would have been much better if the funds had been spent on this planet"
Right - we could have spent the money on the war in Iraq, and tooling up for the next military fiasco.

Dirk Bruere, Bedford, England

nobody but a handful of eggheads cares, do they?

millercs1, south jordan,

This is a great achievment. The money was not wasted like the sub-prime and primary election fiascos in the US and elsewhere. MP expenses in the UK are a total waste.

Frederick, London, UK

Martin Symington: North is determined according to the planet's rotation

Robert, Bratislava, Slovakia

Utterly astonishing - and it proves there are some highly creative and superbly focused individuals and groups in the world. Not enough is being spent on exploring what we do not know and too much on trying to kill each other more efficiently.

This type of exploration could just save us all.

Paul, London, Canada

I bet it didn't need oil to travel so far. So why can't we find alternative energy options to oil when we travel much shorter distances here on earth?

Farrukh, Woking,

NASA receives funds amounting to .6% of the federal budget, but people continue to think that it takes as much as 30%. NASA is probably our government's best investment, since they are so cheap. If you want to complain about waste look at the relief subsidies we give to our already rich farmers.

Matt, Chicago, IL, USA

I'm shocked at people complaining in these comments about the amount of money being spent.
The budget is not purely spent on paperwork, etc. The research NASA has done in materials, computing, rocketry, etc. are the same type of technologies that also have indirect benefits to many aspects of life.

Andrew, Leigh,

Congratulations to everyone at NASA. What these people achieve is obscenely overlooked by the media. Just look at the pictures and realise that they were taken on another world... We are a privileged generation to be part of this. For some people to find such achievements humdrum is as amazing.

Mick, Cork, Ireland

If there was life on Mar's you can bet your “LIFE”; probe or no probe, its hiding well & good away from us, probably on Pluto or even further away on Sedna, the furthest coldest most miserable Planet from us, where we'll never reach

g.mc arder, Belfast/Drogheda, N. Ireland/Ireland

To Iain Carstairs: I somehow doubt that, had this not been achieved, the money would have gone straight to your dying children. Without ventures such as this, we do not push forward the knowledge of mankind.

Chris Parsons, Graffham, UK

John Philips of Canada. The money WAS spent on this planet! It created numerous jobs, advanced scientific knowledge and resulted in a major and well-deserved triumph for NASA.

Sam Bartlett, Sousse, Tunisia

This is actually good news which should have made bigger headlines in the media.

It will progress knowledge beyond just theories and at £400+million is still better value than all our MPs and their inflated expenses claims!

Sam Redman, London, UK

Great job NASA. As always. Say, maybe it can look for the Beagle 2 wreckage (assuming Beagle 2 even made it to Mars).
I'm sure the Russian, Chinese and Indian space agencies will get the similar 'oh no! the money could've been spend on poor, diseased people!!1!LOL' in response to their endeavours.

Arkady, York, UK

I fully agree with Paul.

Keith , Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa

"Using a mechanical arm and tools, it will dig deep into the ice-rich soil close to the planet’s North Pole"

Can anybody explain to me what the term 'North' means, in a Martian context?

Martin Symington, Biddestone, UK

I would just like to correct Eddie at Harrogate. The UK spends no where near $457m keeping the workshy in Beer and Fags. The true figure is closer to £101B, or $202B (approx)....or over 400 times that amount.... Thats a lot of Beer and Fags.... :(

Well done to Nasa though!!!

Jamie brown, Maidstone, England

Let`s hope that now we shall undoubtedly learn more about Mars
they don`t have quite as much rain on Bank Holiday Mondays to ruin the cricket.

If Government used the same determination used to land a small exploratory space craft to find a cure for AIDs and Cancer then that is progress.

Cllr Patrick Smith, E4 6TA, UK

The wheel clampers and traffic wardens will be there shortly.

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

Those 2bn (where did that figure come from exactly?) wont be fed forever on $457m - what's that - 25p/50c each? depending on how much a billion is to you.

The long view, and the one governments have to take is that space may hold the eventual answer to Earth overcrowding.

paul, Milton Keynes, UK

For once WELL DONE AMERICA, pity you could not get your lap dog, the British Government, to join in and give the British people something to be proud off. Again WELL DONE.

Hugh, Stalybridge,

Brilliant! Congratulations on a safe landing!

Warren, Southport, Merseyside

Mr Bush will be taking a great interest in this mission. The first thing he'd want to know is if phoenix had spotted bin-laden yet.

jayil, london, uk

Spending $457m to satisfy curiosity somehow seems a little obscene, considering the 2 bn people on Earth who do not have access to clean water.

By the time you read the article another 30 children will have died of completely preventable disease. I'm sure their families salute NASA.

iain carstairs, bedford, uk

Well done NASA. Can you ask the Phonix if there's a Beagel
about?

Susan, Barry, S Wales

We are making great leaps in understanding our universe and ourselves through projects like this and the large hadron collider.
It is scandalous that the UK government's cuts have forced scientists to work abroad and will close Jodrell Bank, while churches continue to enjoy generous tax breaks.

Camilla, Burnley,

Splendid stuff.
And as for spending $457m back on earth - the UK spends that a week keeping the workshy & feckless in beer & fags, while watching their 42" plasma TVs and a bit left over for MP's expenses.

Eddie, Harrogate, England

John Phillips of Canada. The products invented and improved upon for the space program already are here...your cell phone, micro chips, metal alloys, synthetic fabrics just to name a few. Those funds you complain about....you're already making use of them, you just don't know it.

M.J., Iowa, U.S.A.

It is a huge technological achievement .

Bravo NASA.

Even so, NASA's outstanding achievements have become
Ho Hum to some.

Jerry Scroggin, Phoenix, Arizona/USA

Waiting a very long time for this day to know that the craft had landed on 'three legs' for BBC and 'four legs' for Times. Well done NASA anyway.

Ganesan Kannuchamy, London, UK

How interesting, yawn,yawn. Would have been much better if the funds had been spent on this planet

John Phillips, kelowna BC, Canada

The martians will just turn it off ! :-)

Mars Man , Milton Keynes , Bucks

Another triumph for science, well done.
another nail in coffin for the "myth makers"

Don, Queensland, Australia

donald, pomona, australia

"Mission Accomplished?" Oh, snap!

kh, Boston, MA, USA

Waiting a VERY long time for this... REALLY excited !!!!!!.....

Danny, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

REALLY REALLY excited....

Danny, Winnipeg, MB, Canada