Dr. Randii Wessen, a program system engineer at NASA, holds a globe of mars where at the top in the northern hemisphere, a yellow square marks the landing area of the Phoenix Lander where ice water was found. | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist This just in from the Mars Phoenix Lander's Twitter at 5:15 p.m.: "Are you ready to celebrate? Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, *WATER ICE* on Mars! w00t!!! Best......

Within two hours of landing on planet Earth's neighbor, the Phoenix Mars Lander began sending images to NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena on Sunday evening. The current temperatures on Mars is a frigid high of -22 degrees and a low of -112. To see photos from JPL on Sunday, LAist was there to cover it.......

Early Sunday evening, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena did it. In a "picture perfect" landing, the Phoenix Mars Lander made it to the northern plains of Mars in the latest of attempts to explore and understand the red planet. This specific mission is to look for signs of habitability, whether present or past (see LAist's previous entry from the day of). There was lots of drama to get this mission right, especially since......

Update: "The Phoenix has landed, the Phoenix has landed. Welcome to the northern plains of Mars!" exclaimed EDL Communications Lead Richard Kornfeld. Another woman standing there watching was wow-ed: "That touchdown was phenomenal." It feels like being a room full of lottery winners -- everyone cheered, hugged and then someone broke out candy Mars Bars. The room's silence is now abuzz with chatter, some reporters are high-fiving, and cameramen are surrounding NASA experts for comments.......

What the hell is up with air travel these days? Another day, another 850 flights canceled because government officials have failed us yet again. Yes, we blame the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA[IIL]). And so does American Airlines:American is cancelling several hundred flights starting on April 8 to conduct additional inspections of its MD-80 fleet. These inspections are to ensure precise and complete compliance with the FAA's directive related to wiring in the aircraft's wheel......

The Geminid Meteor showers are set to peak this week, especially on Thursday and Friday. Um, great date night, anybody? Astronomers studying the phenomenon, David Levy and Stephen Edberg, are terribly enthused: "If you have not seen a mighty Geminid fireball arcing gracefully across an expanse of sky, then you have not seen a meteor.' Those guys are serious!!! "The Geminid Meteors are usually the most satisfying of all the annual showers, even surpassing......

Some tech tidbits that caught my eye this week. • Yahoo and Microsoft are getting cozy. Is there a marriage in the works? • Wally Schirra, pioneer astronaut and 5th man ever to go into space, died of a heart attack this week. He was 84. • Digg has a bad couple days. Is the honeymoon over? • Speaking of obscure digits that unlock encrypted HDDVDs, the guys who are fighting to protect their......

Photo by Stephanie Asher JPL has just uploaded some brand new software to NASA's robot explorers Opportunity and Freedom, a few million miles away on Mars. These little rovers have kicked around for four years, finding evidence of water, watching the formation of clouds and dust devils, and sending back some really stunning images. The new software will help the rovers move about on the surface, more accurately photograph atmospheric conditions, and give them......