This series of six images from the Robotic Arm Camera on NASA's Phoenix
Mars Lander records the first time that the four spikes of the lander's
thermal and electrical conductivity probe were inserted into Martian soil.
The images were taken on July 8, 2008, during the Phoenix mission's 43rd
Martian day, or sol, since landing. The insertion visible from the shadows
cast on the ground on that sol was a validation test of the procedure. The
spikes on the probe are about 1.5 centimeters or half an inch long.
The science team will use the probe tool to assess how easily heat and
electricity move through the soil from one spike to another. Such
measurements can provide information about frozen or unfrozen water in the
soil. The probe is mounted on the "knuckle" of Phoenix's Robotic Arm. It
has already been used for assessing water vapor in the atmosphere when it
is held above the ground.
The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf
of NASA. Project management of the mission is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin
Space Systems, Denver.