NASA PHOENIX MISSION SCIENTISTS TO DISCUSS MARTIAN STUDIES

NASA and the University of Arizona, Tucson, will hold a media briefing Thursday, July 31, at 11 a.m. PDT, in the mission's Science Operations Center at the university. Briefing participants
will discuss the latest progress by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander in exploring a site in the Martian arctic. Following its May 25 landing, Phoenix has been studying whether Mars' environment ever has been favorable for microbial life.

The briefing participants are: - Michael Meyer, chief scientist, Mars Exploration Program, NASA
Headquarters, Washington - Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator, University of Arizona,
Tucson - Victoria Hipkin, mission scientist for Phoenix Meteorological Station, Canadian Space Agency, Saint-Hubert, Quebec - Mark Lemmon, lead scientist for Phoenix Surface Stereo Imager, Texas A&M University, College Station

News media may participate by telephone during the question and answer portion of the briefing. Reporters should call NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory media office at 818-354-5011 before the briefing for instructions and the dial-in number.

The briefing will be carried live by NASA TV and on the Internet at:

www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information on the Phoenix mission, visit:

www.nasa.gov/phoenix