My Martian-time clock is here .. is.gd/lFa .. ( near bottom ) Or download your own very cool Mars sunclock: is.gd/1UYC

It's the Martian arctic/northern plains. Team nicknamed the site "green valley" because green meant is was a safe spot to land.

It's just after noon here, so it should reach a nice high temp of -27 C (-16.6F). The lows are around -83 (-117.4).

I had to land in the far north to study the ice. Even if I had wheels, I couldn't travel far enough to get out of the Arctic.

It's more likely I'll lose the sunlight before the CO2 ice reaches here.

The troughs appear to be loose material for now- haven't seen an ice wedge yet. It'll be fun to dig deeper (I can dig 50 cm/20 inches)

The cracks in the frozen ground can fill with loose material. The next chemistry sample will come from this deeper hole: is.gd/1Uxb

I'm reaching new depths. Digging in a trough between two "polygons" (cracked terrain) I've dug 18 cm (7 in) deep without hitting hard ice.

Right now I'm a very healthy spacecraft. I delivered a new sample of soil to the TEGA oven!

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will monitor the encroaching ice cap from above. I won't see it (darkness will get me first)