The New York Times on Saturday, May 31 reported that the Phoenix Mars Lander has been "equipped" with Twitter and has been sending Tweets back to earth. Read NY Times article.

I've been following the Tweets all weekend from earth and they are great.  I've learned all about the ice discovery under one of the landing pads and clicked through to see photos.  This is a great use to Twitter and an example of "news" that I probably would not have discovered anywhere else.  I sent this to my daughter via text messaging and for the first time she "got" twitter.  What a great educational tool!  Kids today think in short bursts of text - Twitter can be used as an education tool to draw kids into to more detail blog posts or main stream news. (more likely video!)

You can see the "Tweets" here:
http://twitter.com/MarsPhoenix

Some recent "Tweets" from MarsPhoenix:

@brownpau Hydrazine fuel in landing exhaust could leave nitrogen traces, but team will account for it in their readings.
about 21 hours ago from web in reply to brownpau

@reciprocum The exposed water ice will sublimate (go from a solid to a vapor) over time, but that may take months. about 21 hours ago from web in reply to reciprocum    

@FoxTwo My arm might not reach that patch, but that's OK. Team thinks there is ice all over after seeing that shot. Just need to dig for it about 21 hours ago from web in reply to FoxTwo    

Peter Smith says team has nicknamed the ice area "Holy Cow!" Those were the first words uttered in the ops area when image was received. about 22 hours ago from web    

Descent thrusters moved the topsoil during landing, uncovering the ice table. The pic was taken for engineers to check my legs, and voila! about 22 hours ago from web    

More from Peter: "The majority opinion is we have uncovered ice about 4 to 6 inches underneath the soil... The picture is astounding." about 22 hours ago from web    

Team ecstatic over last night's image: http://tinyurl.com/3crw4s From mission leader Peter Smith: "The mood was electric in ops center!" about 22 hours ago from web

@KathleenLD Correct, right now I'm farther from Earth than the Sun. Average Mars-Sun distance = 142 million miles. 02:51 AM May 31, 2008 from web in reply to KathleenLD    

@MorgaineSwann I'm 171 million miles from Earth. It takes over 15 mins for data and images to travel from Mars to Earth at light speed. 02:18 AM May 31, 2008 from web in reply to MorgaineSwann    

@Carlo A Mars day lasts 24 hours and 37 minutes. My team on Earth starts work that much later every day to keep up with my schedule. 02:05 AM May 31, 2008 from web in reply to Carlo    

@wolfgang If you want news first, sometimes you have to look upside down. This is raw news from another planet! Team will turn it tonight. 12:49 AM May 31, 2008 from web in reply to wolfgang    

@davidherrold and @newmars MarsPhoenix is taking a deep bow. Thank you for following this mission. This is the start of a lot of fun. 11:28 PM May 30, 2008 from web in reply to davidherrold    

Look at this picture: http://tinyurl.com/63jpsj Now, turn your screen upside down. Is this the mother lode of the polar region? Ice!? 11:25 PM May 30, 2008 from web    
@newmars That's right! A loose screw on Mars can't stop me now. 11:19 PM May 30, 2008 from web in reply to newmars    

@carstene A bunch of brush motors were already made. The rovers have 50 of them. So cost was low, and I know they've worked well. 09:18 PM May 30, 2008 from web in reply to carstene    

My team is looking at the TEGA short-circuit. They work the "Martian graveyard shift" looking at data I send home at end of Martian day. 09:09 PM May 30, 2008 from web    

@TaviGreiner The picture shows a little piece of hardware on the ground, probably a pin. The team is checking it out. No worries. :-) 03:20 PM May 30, 2008 from web in reply to TaviGreiner    

My robotic arm camera got some great shots around my feet. Is that ice right there? http://tinyurl.com/4bf2hj Can't wait for a closer look! 01:34 PM May 30, 2008 from web    

@depapel Here's how the team made sure the parachute wouldn't fall on top of me: http://tinyurl.com/5qgckl (and scroll down to parachute). 09:56 AM May 30, 2008 from web in reply to depapel    

@mmealling Thx! Commercial translation: "just call your insurance company." Those Dutch! They did this one too: http://tinyurl.com/6g9luz 09:25 AM May 30, 2008 from web in reply to mmealling