Looking For Life On Mars

Congratulations are in order for NASA, which on Sunday successfully landed the Phoenix spacecraft near Mars' north pole. It's good to see that all those night classes NASA engineers had to take on Metric to English conversions has finally paid off.

One of the more unique features of the Phoenix lander is that it is equipped with a "backhoe" that will enable it to dig below the surface in a search for evidence of life in Mars' past. That is why the planet's polar region was selected: There is ample evidence of ice in the region, and the thinking goes that where there's water, there are much improved chances for life. And if anything ever truly lived on the Red Planet, this is where Martian life would have made its last stand.

Scientists don't seriously expect to find any current life, however. The atmosphere of today's Mars simply isn't conducive to life, at least as we understand it.

The lander has already been returning some spectacular images. Still no signs of life, but skeptical scientists have discovered what they are calling a "particularly fascinating rock formation."