The next Red Planet mission started Sunday when - after 10 months and 640-million kilometres - the Mars Phoenix Lander grounded safely on the northern polar region of the Martian planet.

"For the first time in 32 years, and only the third time in history, a JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) team has carried out a soft landing on Mars," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told ScienceDaily.com.

NASA's spacecraft will spend the next three months exploring the site and studying the planet's frozen water for carbon-containing chemicals.

The Red Planet's arctic-region weather will also be monitored from the surface (for the first time) using the Canadian-built Meteorological Station, or MET, which will record changes in water abundance, dust, temperature and other variables.

The Phoenix landing is a definite relief to NASA. Previous U.S. attempts to land spacecraft on Mars proved difficult and unsuccessful 50 per cent of the time - approx. five of 11 attempts were positive.

"We've passed the hardest part and we're breathing again," JPL's Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager, told ScienceDaily.com.

Summary by Jocelyn Nespiak for Spacecast.com