This image from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows the spacecraft's recent
activity site as of the 23rd Martian day of the mission, or Sol 22 (June
16, 2008), after the spacecraft touched down on the Red Planet's northern
polar plains. The mosaic was taken by the lander's Surface Stereo Imager
(SSI). Parts of Phoenix can be seen in the foreground.
The first two trenches dug by the lander's Robotic Arm, called "Dodo" and
"Goldilocks," were enlarged on the 19th Martian day of the mission, or Sol
18 (June 12, 2008), to form one trench, dubbed "Dodo-Goldilocks." Scoops
of material taken from those trenches are informally called "Baby Bear"
and "Mama Bear." Baby Bear was carried to Phoenix's Thermal and
Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA, instrument for analysis, while Mama Bear
was delivered to Phoenix's Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity
Analyzer instrument suite, or MECA, for a closer look.
The color inset picture of the Dodo-Goldilocks trench, also taken with
Phoenix's SSI, reveals white material thought to be ice.
More recently, on Sol 22 (June 16, 2008), Phoenix's Robotic Arm began
digging a trench, dubbed "Snow White," in a patch of Martian soil near the
center of a polygonal surface feature, nicknamed "Cheshire Cat." The "dump
pile" is located at the top of the trench, and has been dubbed "Croquet
Ground." The digging site has been nicknamed "Wonderland."
The Snow White trench, seen here in an SSI image from Sol 22 (June 16,
2008) is about 2 centimeters (.8 inches) deep and 30 centimeters (12
inches) long. As of Sol 25 (June 19, 2008), the trench is 5 centimeters (2
inches deep) and the trench has been renamed "Snow White 1," as a second
trench has been dug to its right and nicknamed "Snow White 2."
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.