[meteorite-list] NASA's Phoenix Lander Makes an Impression on Mars

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/release.php?ArticleID=1726

NASA's Phoenix Lander Makes an Impression on Mars
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
June 01, 2008

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander reached out and touched the Martian soil for
the first time on Saturday, May 31, the first step in a series of
actions expected to bring soil and ice to the lander's experiments.

The lander's Robotic Arm scoop left an impression that resembles a
footprint at a place provisionally named Yeti in the King of Hearts
target zone, away from the area that eventually will be sampled for
evaluation.

The impression in the soil was captured by Phoenix's Stereo Surface
Imager. Features and locations around the Phoenix lander are being named
for fairy tale and mythological characters.

"This first touch allows us to utilize the Robotic Arm accurately. We
are in a good situation for the upcoming sample acquisition and
transfer," said David Spencer, Phoenix's surface mission manager from
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Phoenix's Robotic Arm Camera also took a number of images of the "Snow
Queen" site of what is believed to be exposed ice under the lander.

"What we see in the images is in agreement with the notion that it may
be ice, and we suspect we will see the same thing in the digging area,"
said Uwe Keller, Robotic Arm Camera lead scientist from the Max Planck
Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany