And vice versa. Everything is looking good for the Phoenix landing on Mars.

The spacecraft speed has increased today thanks to the pull of Martian gravity on Phoenix. The latest press release (located here) said because of the pull of Martian gravity, the spacecraft speed increased from 6,300 miles per hour at 8:30 am, PDT this morning to 8,500 miles per hour just four hours later. The spacecraft is expected to reach 12,000 + miles per hour before reaching the atmosphere of Mars.

Can you imagine the mission controllers? Ha, even I’m getting butterflies, they must be going crazy with anticipation.

Good luck Phoenix!

Landing time: 4:38 pm PDT, 7:38 EDT, just 3 hours from this post.

Oh, Discovery’s Science Channel is covering the landing, and they are doing it in HD for those who have that option.