Mars lander sends photos from Red Planet's arctic

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/05/26/mars.lander/index.html#cnnSTCText

"We are not going to be able to answer the final question of is there life on Mars," said Smith,

an optical scientist with the University of Arizona.
optical:relating to machines or processes which are concerned with light, images, or the way we see things

"We will take the next important step.

We'll find out if there's organic material associated with this ice in the polar regions.
organic:living, or produced by or from living things
polar:close to or relating to the North Pole or the South Pole
North Pole:the most northern point on the surface of the Earth
region:a large area of a country or of the world, usually without exact limits

Ice is a preserver, and if there ever were organics on Mars and they got into that ice,

they will still be there today."

The twin to the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft,
land:to make a plane move safely down onto the ground at the end of a journey
spacecraft:a vehicle that is able to travel in space

Phoenix was supposed to travel to Mars in 2001 as the Mars Surveyor spacecraft.
Phoenix:the capital and largest city of Arizona, US. It as an extremely hot city that is growing very quickly, because many old people go there to live.
extremely:to a very great degree
surveyor:someone whose job is to examine the condition of a building, or to measure and record the details of an area of land

They were originally part of the "better, faster, cheaper" program, formulated by then
formulate:to develop something such as a plan or a set of rules, and decide all the details of how it will be done
then:used when mentioning the person who had a particular job, title, or position at a time in the past

-NASA Administrator Dan Goldin to beef up planetary exploration on a lean budget.
beef something ↔ up:to improve something or make it more interesting, more important etc
planetary:｛わくせい｝｛きどう｝惑星の、軌道を回る(I couldn't seach difinition in English.)
exploration:the act of travelling through a place in order to find out about it or find something such as oil or gold in it
lean:thin in a healthy and attractive way
attractive:someone who is attractive is good looking, especially in a way that makes you sexually interested in them

I'm interested in the news.
I want to go to Mars.So I hope that NASA keeps working.