The robotic arm on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander enlarged a trench beside a
rock called "Headless" during the mission's 115th Martian day (Sept. 20,
2008) in preparation for sliding the rock into the trench. The lander's
Surface Stereo Imager took this image later that afternoon, showing the
enlarged trench and the rock.
The robotic arm successfully moved the rock two days later.
The Phoenix science team sought to move the rock in order to study the
soil and the depth to subsurface ice underneath where the rock had been.
Headless is about the size and shape of a VHS videotape. The trench,
called "Neverland," was excavated to about 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) deep
near the rock. The ground surface between the rock and the lip of the
trench slopes downward about 3 degrees toward the trench.
The left-eye and right-eye images combined into this stereo view were
taken at about 4:35 p.m., local solar time on Mars. The scene appears
three-dimensional when seen through blue-red glasses. The view is to the
north northeast of the lander.
The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf
of NASA. Project management of the mission is by JPL, Pasadena, Calif.
Spacecraft development was by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.
