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Good morning, Phoenix

- March 19, 2008

Thermal image of the location on Mars where the Phoenix will touch down and perform its experiments.

Wakey, wakey -- about 160 million kilometres away from its destination, the Canadian Meteorological Station on the Phoenix Mars Lander has been roused by researchers back on Earth.

The pressure and temperature sensors of the meteorological station were activated for routine testing, verifying their “health and safety” eight months after blasting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Phoenix Mars Lander, which includes a lidar developed by Dal researchers Tom Duck and Cameron Dickinson, is expected to enter the Martian atmosphere on May 25.