The Phoenix Mars Mission was the first man-made probe ever sent to the Martian Arctic. They wanted to find out how climate change can turn a warm, wet planet (read: Earth) into a cold, barren desert (read: Mars). Some might call it a trivial pursuit, but it's probably the most impressive feat we humans can achieve, and it took the culmination of nearly the entirety of human knowledge to do it.

Along the way, the Phoenix discovered a giant frozen ocean trapped beneath the north pole of Mars, exotic food for aliens, and liquid water. This is not science fiction. It's fact. Not bad for a summer holiday.