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NASA To Discuss Phoenix Mission Upcoming Mars Landing

NASA has scheduled a media briefing Tuesday, May 13, at 11 a.m. EDT, to discuss the challenges, risks and science opportunities of the scheduled May 25 landing of the Phoenix Mars Lander. Officials also will provide details on the Phoenix landing site.

The briefing will take place in the NASA Headquarters' James E. Webb Auditorium, 300 E St., S.W., Washington. It will be carried live on NASA Television and on the Web.

Phoenix is expected to conduct a three-month mission studying a northern arctic site on the Red Planet. Phoenix will dig down to an ice-rich layer expected to lie within arm's reach of the surface of Mars. It will analyze the water and soil for evidence about climate cycles and investigate if the environment there has ever been favorable for microbial life.

Participants will be: Ed Weiler, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington Doug McCuistion, director, Mars Exploration Program, NASA Headquarters Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator, University of Arizona, Tucson Ray Arvidson, Phoenix landing site working group chairman, Washington University in St. Louis Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

For more information about NASA TV, streaming video, and downlink and schedule information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the Phoenix mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix

Source: NASA