Greetings from Mars

Excuse me, I've got a call from Mars.

The Phoenix Mars Lander is twittering - sending out micro-messages via cell phone and computer about its activities and progress - to more than 9,000 listeners last week. And a lot more signed up after today's New York Times story about it. At 6pm today, another 5,000 are following Phoenix's posts. It's actually a NASA staffer who ghost authors the messages, but they read as if coming from the Lander itself. [right; credit JPL/NASA, UA]

If you had logged in on Sunday as the craft started its landing, you would have gotten a series of "tweets", including:

Atmospheric entry has started. time to get REALLY nervous. Now I’m in the “seven minutes of terror.”

parachute opening is scariest part for the team.

parachute is open!!!!!

come on rocketssssss!!!!!

I’ve landed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers! Tears!! I’m here!