This color image is a three dimensional (3D) view of a digital elevation
map of a sample collected by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Atomic Force
Microscope (AFM).
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 particle was part of a sample informally called "Sorceress" delivered
to the AFM on the 38th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (July 2, 2008).
The AFM is part of Phoenix's microscopic station called MECA, or the
Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer.
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.
