The European Space Agency announced on Tuesday that its controllers have succesfully managed to slightly correct the course of Phoenix’s flight as it is heading towards Mars.

The ESA said that the adjustment of Phoenix’s course was made the last weekend and involved the spacecraft’s four trajectory-correction thrusters, being fired for a very short time, less than 2 seconds.

This rather simple manouver has nudged Phoenix toward its targeted landing place, which is around 11 miles to the northwest, as the spacecraft aims to hit the center of the targeted landing spot.

The course corrections are not over yet, as the ESA said that another one could occur on May 24, a day before Phoenix is scheduled to land on the surface of Mars.

The spacecraft is expected to touch Mars’ northern arctic surface on Sunday. The 462 million dollars Phoenix Mars Lander Mission has as its goal to dig underneath the planet’s surface in order to collect soil samples and of the layers of ice beneath.

This mission is hoped to provide scientists with an answer regarding the origin and the way ice formed on the planet, which might then explain whether life was possible on Mars, especially on this particular side of it that was little- studied.