It looks like phoenix could have landed in a patch of permafrost just as they wanted it too:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/
we wait with baited breath (that's me and my dad, not the royal we!)
So supposing life is found I guess there would be two possibilities: It is very different to us which might suggest life is common in solar systems silimlar to our own, or it is very close to us which might suggest panspermia.
Hey, I'd be happy wiht either.
N.