The image on the upper left is from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Optical
Microscope after a sample informally called "Sorceress" was delivered to
its silicon substrate on the 38th Martian day, or sol, of the mission
(July 2, 2008).
A 3D representation of the same sample is on the right, as seen by
Phoenix's Atomic Force Microscope. This is 200 times greater magnification
than the view from the Optical Microscope, and the most highly magnified
image ever seen from another world.
The image shows four round pits, only 5 microns in depth, that were
micromachined into the silicon substrate, which is the background plane
shown in red. This image has been processed to reflect the levelness of
the substrate.
A Martian particle —only one micrometer, or one millionth of a
meter, across —is held in the upper left pit.
The rounded particle —shown at the highest magnification ever seen
from another world —is a particle of the dust that cloaks Mars. Such
dust particles color the Martian sky pink, feed storms that regularly
envelop the planet and produce Mars' distinctive red soil.
The Optical Microscope and the Atomic Force Microscope are part of
Phoenix's Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer
instrument.
The AFM was developed by a Swiss-led consortium, with Imperial College
London producing the silicon substrate that holds sampled particles.
The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf
of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin
Space Systems, Denver.
