Phoenix retesting release of Martian soil

When the lander collected and released its first scoopful of soil on Sunday, some of the sample stuck to the scoop. The team told Phoenix this morning to lift another surface sample and release it, with more extensive imaging of the steps in the process.
"We are proceeding cautiously," said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of The University of Arizona. "Before we begin delivering samples to the instruments on the deck, we want a good understanding of how the soil behaves."

An image of one of the analytical instruments received Monday night underscored the need for precise release of samples. It shows the two spring-loaded doors on one of the tiny ovens of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer after a command for them to open in preparation for receiving the instrument's first soil sample. One opened fully, the other partially. Phoenix engineers said the opening is wide enough to receive a sample, and that it might still open further with daily temperature changes.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University.

This sequence of two images was acquired by NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander’s Surface Stereo Imager on sols 6 and 7--the sixth and seventh days of the mission (May 31 and June 1, 2008). Both images show an area to the west of the digging site informally known as "Knave of Hearts." The second image shows the movement and shadow of the Robotic Arm. Between Phoenix's Arm and the shadow is a small handful of Martian soil that has been released from the Robotic Arm onto the surface.

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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