Phoenix Rasps Frozen Layer, Collects Sample

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 16, 2008 | 4.4 / 5 (19) | 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- A powered rasp on the back of the robotic arm scoop of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander successfully drilled into the frozen soil and loosened material that was collected in the lander's scoop.

Phoenix Scoops Up Martian Soil

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 02, 2008 | 4.2 / 5 (30) | 7

One week after landing on far-northern Mars, NASA Phoenix spacecraft lifted its first scoop of Martian soil as a test of the lander's Robotic Arm.

Phoenix Mars Lander Working With Sticky Soil

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 29, 2008 | 4.3 / 5 (9) | 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists and engineers on NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission spent the weekend examining how the icy soil on Mars interacts with the scoop on the lander's robotic arm, while trying different techniques ...

Phoenix Revises Method to Deliver Icy Sample

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 28, 2008 | 4.1 / 5 (7) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's robotic arm will use a revised collection-and-delivery sequence overnight Sunday with the goal of depositing an icy soil sample in the lander's oven.

Sample-Collection Tests by Phoenix Lander Continue

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 09, 2008 | 3 / 5 (4) | 1

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's science and engineering teams are testing methods to get an icy sample into the Robotic Arm scoop for delivery to the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer, or TEGA.

Phoenix Mars Lander Continues Tests With Rasp

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 18, 2008 | 3.9 / 5 (11) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- The team operating NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander plans to tell the lander today to do a second, larger test of using a motorized rasp to produce and gather shavings of frozen ground.

Mars probe Phoenix flexes robotic arm

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

May 29, 2008 | 4 / 5 (9) | 0

NASA's Phoenix Mars lander flexed its robotic arm Thursday in a successful test of the key element in the probe's mission to investigate the Red Planet's soil for conditions conducive to life, NASA said.

Phoenix Mars Lander Will Sprinkle Martian Soil for Microscope to View

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 10, 2008 | 3.3 / 5 (3) | 0

The team operating NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander plans to instruct the spacecraft in the next few days to use its Robotic Arm to sprinkle a spoonful of Martian soil onto a wheel that will rotate the sample into ...

Phoenix Lander Prepares for Microscopy, Wet Chemistry on Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 24, 2008 | 3.7 / 5 (7) | 1

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has delivered a scoop of Martian soil from the "Snow White" trenches to the optical microscope for analysis tomorrow, June 24, the 29th Martian day of the mission, or Sol 29.

Phoenix Scrapes 'Almost Perfect' Icy Soil for Analysis

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 01, 2008 | 4.2 / 5 (22) | 8

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander enlarged the "Snow White" trench and scraped up little piles of icy soil on Saturday, June 28, the 33rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Scientists say that the scrapings are ...

Phoenix Mars Lander Extending Trench

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 15, 2008 | 3.3 / 5 (7) | 2

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is using its Robotic Arm to enlarge an exposure of hard subsurface material expected to yield a sample of ice-rich soil for analysis in one of the lander's ovens.

Scientists prepare for Mars experiments

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 18, 2007 | 3.3 / 5 (3) | 0

U.S. scientists are trying to determine the affect the Phoenix Mars Lander's descent will have on later soil experiments on the Red Planet.

Next Mars Soil Scoop Slated for Last of Lander's Wet Lab Cells

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Sep 10, 2008 | 3.5 / 5 (2) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The next soil sample that NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander will deliver to its deck instruments will go to the fourth of the four cells of Phoenix's wet chemistry laboratory, according to the Phoenix ...

Trench on Mars Ready for Next Sampling by NASA Lander

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 24, 2008 | 4.3 / 5 (3) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has groomed the bottom of a shallow trench to prepare for collecting a sample to be analyzed from a hard subsurface layer where the soil may contain frozen water. ...

Phoenix to Bake Ice-Rich Sample Next Week

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 03, 2008 | 3.7 / 5 (3) | 0

The next sample delivered to NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA) will be ice-rich.