The American flag and a mini-DVD on the Phoenix's deck, which is about 1m above the Martian surface

The U.S. space agency NASA says the Phoenix Mars probe landed in an ideal location to search for evidence that the planet could support life.

At a news conference Tuesday NASA scientists said the probe is located in a valley in the polar region believed to contain subterranean ice.

Phoenix is designed to dig through the Martian soil and into the layer of ice to look for the basic chemical components essential to supporting life.

NASA says there were few problems with the landing Sunday, though a radio glitch on a spacecraft orbiting Mars will likely delay the scheduled mission by about one day.

A team of Canadian scientists reports clear skies at the landing site, with temperatures ranging between negative 30 and negative 80 degrees Celsius, and with 32 kilometer per hour winds.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.