How strange — and thrilling — that the view of a distant world can do so much to restore faith in the future of our own planet.

The joy of success in the human enterprise of exploration and discovery played across the faces Sunday of the NASA scientists behind the Phoenix lander, which smoothly executed a soft, booster-assisted landing.

The first images coming back confirmed that the Phoenix, a robotic laboratory with an impressive capacity for data gathering, had averted numerous stumbling blocks and set down safely.

Now the work by the team — a partnership between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and University of Arizona scientists and the flight-systems manager of Lockheed Martin Space Systems — can begin.

The mission is to answer three questions:

• Can the Martian arctic support life?

• What is the history of water at the landing site?

• How is the Martian climate affected by polar dynamics?

Phoenix carries an array of tools, including a robotic arm that is poised to begin gathering soil samples and conducting other tests.

All this dabbling in the far reaches of space strikes many people as a distraction from our earthly problems at home. But remember: The technological advancement realized through space exploration already has yielded great benefits to humanity. The quest for knowledge and understanding of our universe is a worthwhile investment.

Best of all, there's so much to learn here at home. Visit the Web at phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu for a world — an alien world — of knowledge.

Anyone who feels the need to "get away from it all" can truly do so here.