 Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University  NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Has Successfully Delivered More Soil To Its Wet Chemistry LaboratorySeptember 16, 2008 -- This image, taken by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager, documents the delivery of a soil sample from the "Snow White" trench to the Wet Chemistry Laboratory. A small pile of soil is visible on the lower edge of the second cell from the top. This deck-mounted lab is part of Phoenix's Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA).The delivery was made on Sept. 12, 2008, which was Sol 107 (the 107th Martian day) of the mission, which landed on May 25, 2008. The Wet Chemistry Laboratory mixes Martian soil with an aqueous solution from Earth as part of a process to identify soluble nutrients and other chemicals in the soil. Preliminary analysis of this soil confirms that it is alkaline, and composed of salts and other chemicals such as perchlorate, sodium, magnesium, chloride and potassium. This data validates prior results from that same location, said Michael Hecht of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., the lead scientist for MECA. Read More       Frosty Devilsby Patrick WoidaSeptember 10, 2008 - The Winds of Change continue to sweep across the landscape. Today we found dust devils (small cyclones) in our Sol 104 images. This is part of the "Happy Ever After" high resolution pan. We already have our ...Read More Spooky Solsby Patrick WoidaSeptember 05, 2008 -I'm almost getting used to the kind of spooky environment here at the Science Operations Center in Tucson. So VERY different than the primary mission. We've got extended mission, Earth time, and ... Read More |
  Media UpdatePlease check the Phoenix Mars Mission web sites for mission updates this week. |
The Phoenix Mission is led by Principal Investigator Peter H. Smith of The University of Arizona, supported by a science team of CO-Is, with project management at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and development partnership with Lockheed Martin Space Systems. International contributions are provided by the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus Denmark; the Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Additional information on Phoenix is online at here and here. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Additional information on NASA's Mars program is online at here.
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