A Nasa spacecraft successfully slipped into orbit around Mars, joining a trio of orbiters already circling the Red Planet after a critical firing of its engA Nasa spacecraft successfully slipped into orbit around Mars, joining a trio of orbiters already circling the Red Planet after a critical firing of its engines.

After a seven-month journey, a Nasa spacecraft closed in on Mars today on a mission to examine the Red Planet in unprecedented detail from low orbit.

JITTERY NASA scientists are waiting for the most advanced spacecraft ever sent to another planet to make its risky final approach to Mars, where it is due to return 10 times the data of all previous probes put together.

Two days after bringing Discovery home, Nasa prepared today to launch a spacecraft to Mars with new tools designed to gather more data on the planet than all previous Martian missions combined.