This drawing shows a side view of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's scoop with
various tools for acquiring soil, icy soil and ice samples.
The front blade, at left, is for scraping. A secondary blade can scrape
hard materials.
The motorized rasp, protruding at the bottom on the image, can penetrate
the hard icy soil and acquire the cuttings produced through the rear
chamber of the scoop. The rasp is a tungsten carbide cutting bit mounted
within a pivoting housing that allows the bit to protrude during sample
acquisition.
The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf
of NASA. Project management of the mission is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin
Space Systems, Denver.
