Phoenix (spacecraft) other institutions. The $325 million NASA award is more than six times larger than any other single research grant in University of Arizona history. Peter H. Smith of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, as Principal Investigator, along with 24 Co-Investigators, were selected to lead the mission. The mission was named after the Phoenix, a mythological bird that is repeatedly reborn from its own ashes. The "Phoenix" spacecraft contains several previously built components. The lander used for the 2007–08 mission is the modified Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander (canceled in 2000), along with several of the instruments from both
Alectryon (mythology) corrupted from Halaka, one of the old Persian appellations of the sun. In the 'Vendidad' it is said that the sacred bird Parodars, called by men "kahrkatak", raises its voice at the dawn; and in the "Bundehasb", the sun is spoken of as Halaka, the cock, the enemy of darkness and evil, which flee before his crowing. Alectryon (mythology) Alectryon (Ancient Greek: ἀλεκτρυών) is the Ancient Greek word for "rooster". In Greek mythology, Alectryon was a young soldier who was assigned by Ares to stand guard outside his door while the god indulged in illicit love with Aphrodite. He fell