Phoenix delivers soil-chemistry sample
The sample will be compared to the first martian soil analyzed.
Provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Published: Tuesday, July 08, 2008
July 7, 2008
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander used its robotic arm to deliver a second sample of soil for analysis by the spacecraft's wet chemistry laboratory, data received from Phoenix on Sunday night confirmed.
Results from testing this sample will be compared in coming days to the results from the first martian soil analyzed by the wet chemistry laboratory 2 weeks ago. That laboratory is part of Phoenix's Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer.
The main activity on the lander's schedule for today is testing a method for scraping up a sample of icy material and getting it into the scoop at the end of the robotic arm. Photography before, during, and after the process will allow evaluation of this method. If the test goes well, the science team plans to use this method for gathering the next sample to be delivered to Phoenix's bake-and-sniff instrument, the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer.