NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander began excavating a new trench, dubbed "Snow
White," in a patch of Martian soil located near the center of a polygonal
surface feature, nicknamed "Cheshire Cat." The trench is about 2
centimeters (.8 inches) deep and 30 centimeters (about 12 inches) long.
The "dump pile" is located at the top of the trench, the side farthest
away from the lander, and has been dubbed "Croquet Ground." The digging
site has been named "Wonderland."
At this early stage of digging, the Phoenix team did not expect to find
any of the white material seen in the first trench, now called
"Dodo-Goldilocks." That trench showed white material at a depth of about
5 centimeters (2 inches). More digging of Snow White is planned for coming
sols, or Martian days.
The dark portion of this image is the shadow of the lander's solar panel;
the bright areas within this region are not in shadow.
Snow White was dug on Sol 22 (June 17, 2008) with Phoenix's Robotic Arm.
This picture was acquired on the same day by the lander's Surface Stereo
Imager. This image has been enhanced to brighten shaded areas.
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.