Photo Gallery: Phoenix Lander's Search for Mars Water

Pictures of the Phoenix craft and evidence of water on Mars
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In rare cases on Mars a full-fledged frozen lake can form, as seen in this picture taken on February 2, 2005.

The European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter, which snapped this shot, will be "keeping an eye" on the Phoenix lander's descent next spring.

Scientists suspect that Mars's extreme latitudes have a mild enough temperature and low enough pressure for such icy bodies to persist year-round.

It's that watery potential that led NASA experts to select Mars's northern hemisphere as the landing site for the Phoenix craft.

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—Image courtesy ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
 

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