Invasive species

The Phoenix Lander contacted Martian soil gracefully, stubbornly refusing to engage in the planned rise from the ashes. Unlike the Beagle II which bravely hurtled to the Martian surface un-braked, Phoenix deployed a parachute and fired retro rockets, nailing a perfect 10 point landing.

Here, you can see the Lander and parachute as it descends -- captured by the Mars Orbiter.

The rockets bared what appears to be ice just under the surface. The lander back hoe has been deployed and taken a couple of scoops of Martian soil, revealing what may be more near surface ice (or salt).

Kudos to NASA! Remarkable that as our earth born spaceship successfully sailed to the surface of Mars it was captured on film by the planet Earth, human created and installed satellite, Orbiter.

Our robots now maintain full control of the planet (Binary solo?).