Families can get a taste of NASA’s next mission, which will be lead by the UA.

The Phoenix Mars Lander, which is slated to land on Mars in 2008. Phoenix Science Operations Center, located at North Sixth Avenue and East Drachman Street, will serve as mission control to the Phoenix Mars Lander. On Saturday, the Phoenix Science Operations Center will be holding an open house for Family Weekend to showcase the mission.

Andrew Shaner, a graduate student with teacher education in the lunar and planetary laboratory, said the open house will include events for children from the Science and Math Education Center.

Children’s activities include analysis of “”gooey gunky stuff”” to determine its composition and Playdough planet to learn about the solar system, said Shaner, who is part of the Phoenix Mars Lander team.

Peter Smith, the UA researcher who is leading the mission, will be giving demonstration of a robotic arm, which will be part of the future space craft.

Visitors can also view a full scale model of the Phoenix Mars Lander in addition to a half scale model of the 2001 Mars Odyssey, which are both on loan from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Shaner said.

The event, which is Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., is free and open to the public.

Since the Phoenix Science Operations Center does not have parking, a shuttle from the James E. Rogers Circle near the Union will be taking people to the center. The shuttle will also stop a Pima Community College’s downtown campus and run every half hour.