NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander collected a soil sample and attempted to
deliver some of it to a laboratory oven on the deck during the mission's
62nd Martian day, or sol, (July 28, 2008). The sample came from a hard
layer at the bottom of the "Snow White" trench and might have contained
water ice mixed with the soil. This image taken after the attempt to
deliver the sample through the open doors to cell number zero on the
Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer shows that very little of the soil fell
onto the screened opening.
Not enough material reached the oven, through a funnel under the screen,
to proceed with analysis of the sample material.
Phoenix's Robotic Arm Camera took this image at 7:54 a.m. local solar time
on Sol 62. The size of the screened opening is about 10 centimeters (4
inches) long by 4 centimeters (1.5 inches) wide.
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.
