If you are using twitter, and who isn't, you may be one of the ~10,000 followers of @MarsPhoenix like I am. Veronica McGregor, news services manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has been playing the part of the Phoenix lander and keeping us informed of the it's progress since the real mission began last week. You can ask questions about the lander or the mission and McGregor will forward them on to the tech's and respond to you with their answers. Many twitterers have found the tweets very informative and, I for one, enjoy reading the questions posed to @MarsPhoenix and the first person responses. I hope that educators are paying attention and encouraging students to follow, it's a wonderful way to learn about the mission and puts you on the inside with the team responsible. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s media team truly is in touch with the tools available in a web 2.0 world and in my opinion use them very effectively. Good job folks! NY Times story here.
