Posted by tourdemars to Reconnaissance Orbiter at August 4, 2003 12:00 PM

The University of Arizona and Planetary Laboratory's Phoenix design has won the bid for NASA 2007 Scout Mission to Mars, netting them a staggering 325 million dollar funding grant. The Phoenix Mission, which will carry equipment designed by UA researchers Peter Smith and William Boynton, will put a lander on the icy northern plains of Mars. The lander's robotic arm will excavate a trench and retrieve samples for geological and chemical analysis.