we saw that...

mission to mars: seven minutes of terror

"touchdown signal detected" at 6:53 p.m. central. which actually happened at 6:37 since it takes 16 minutes for the signal to travel from mars to earth.
the phoenix mars lander was launched 04 august 2007.

phoenix mars lander soft touchdown north of mars' north pole.
the lander has a robotic arm which will scoop up permafrost, vaporize it to study chemical compounds.

1st u.s. probe with landing legs, stabilizing thrusters since viking in 1976.