Yep, it went well. Now the big question is will it find the basic ingredients needed for life. I believe there has to be other life out there, though not necessarily in our own solar system. But I do believe there is in our galaxy, and in many other galaxies also. The Cosmos is so vast, Earth is really nothing unique.
+1 I always think of us humans as fish in a tank and what their "perception" of our world what be. They might think their tank is big and interesting and the visible part of the living room is all there is, yet they have no idea, that they're in a house, in a city, in a state, in a country, on a continent on a planet with millions of other fish.
Remember Men In Black II or it may have been MIB III. During the movie there was a race of creatures living in a locker. At the end of the movie, Will Smith goes to open a door marked (Do Not Open), looks out and sees that he (Earth) is actually in a locker.
I'd say Earth is pretty darn unique. Scientists know of far more places that can't support life than those that could.
Phoenix Mars lander. The 7 minutes were the time for the reentry and landing. I was watching the landing live (well the audio commentary from JPL that is) and it was breath taking.
Not really, in the Cosmos there are billions of galaxies, each with billions of stars and each star has the possibility of supporting a solar system. Yes, there are many variables to consider which are too numerous to discuss here, but the thought that there isn't life out there, and probably intelligent life, is almost a preposterous idea!
