[meteorite-list] NASA's Phoenix Retesting Release of Martian Soil

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/release.php?ArticleID=1730

NASA's Phoenix Retesting Release of Martian Soil
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
June 03, 2008

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Engineers and scientists operating NASA's Phoenix Mars
Lander decided early today to repeat a practice test of releasing
Martian soil from the scoop on the lander's Robotic Arm.

When the arm 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,
June 2, 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. On Monday, engineers sent commands for the doors
to open in preparation for receiving the instrument's first soil sample.
Images returned that evening showed one door opened fully, the other
partially. Phoenix engineers said the opening is wide enough to receive
a sample, and that the door might open farther on its own, particularly
once the sun warms the spring holding the door.

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona with
project management by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,
Calif., and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, Denver.
International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the
University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and
Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish
Meteorological Institute. For more about Phoenix, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix and http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu.


Media contacts: Guy Webster 818-354-5011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov