DATE: 3 p.m. EDT today (June 13, 2008.)

EVENT: A NASA press briefing on the latest Mars Phoenix lander news. As part of the briefing, the University of Michigan’s Nilton Renno will give an update on Mars’ weather and atmospheric measurements. Renno, an associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, is a co-investigator on the mission and lead of the Atmospheric Science Theme Group.

Reporters can ask questions by phone. To participate, contact the media relations office at the University of Arizona: (520) 626-1974 or at Jet Propulsion Laboratory at (818) 354-5011 by 2:30 p.m. EDT for the call-in number.

Phoenix landed on Mars on May 25 and will spend three months analyzing soil and ice to uncover the history of water on the planet. Its mission is to determine whether the arctic plains there could support microbial life. Renno is studying the chemical composition of the soil and clouds in effort to determine how much water Mars has today and had in the past.

PLACE: Broadcast live online at NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html.

CONTACT: Renno can be reached on his cell phone at (734) 358-9441 or by e-mail at [email protected].

News release: U-M simulations predicted Mars lander would hit subsurfaceNews release and video: U-M scientists simulate the effects of blowing Mars dust on Phoenix landerNews release: Mars winds could pose challenges, but manageable ones, for Phoenix lander