At 4:26AM today August 4th, the NASA’s new Mars explorer took off,
it’s destined to land in Mars’s north pole on Spring ‘08 in order to search
for underground frozen water as well as microbial life.

“The 1,500 pound spacecraft carries eight science instruments, including cameras to pan the terrain at the landing site, the robot arm with digging tools, microscopes and equipment to analyze the mineral makeup of the soil and a weather station to study seasonal changes in the atmosphere.

The arm was designed to trench about two feet into the soil. Cameras and microscopes will characterize the ice and soil. Pinches of the material will be scooped by the arm into eight ovens on the probe that will use solar energy to vaporize the samples for chemical analysis.”

The Phoenix Explorer is carrying also a DVD with art & literature
from the 19th and 20th century. Along a List of the names of
over 250 thousand people from all over the world who signed the
form to be included in that mission.

I personally signed up on last year’s December,
and I have my Certificate of participation with the
“Mars Phoenix Lander Mission”

Here it is:

Via chron.com

Via NASA