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William Atkins
Sunday, 08 June 2008 01:19
Initially, the Phoenix mission scientists stated that nothing appears to be wrong with the equipment involved in the procedure or by the way the robotic arm delivered the dirt above the oven.
According to the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (University of Arizona) website “NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander Checking Soil Properties,” Ray Arvidson stated, “I think it's the cloddiness of the soil and not having enough fine granular material."
Arvidson (Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri), the Phoenix lead scientist for the digging expedition, added, "In the future, we may prepare the soil by pushing down on the surface with the arm before scooping up the material to break it up, then sprinkle a smaller amount over the door.” [LPL/UA]
Other strategies are also being considered.
For instance, the LPL website states, “Another strategy under consideration is to use mechanical shakers inside the TEGA instrument differently than the five minutes of shaking that was part of the sample-receiving process on Friday.”
On Saturday, June 7, 2008, Phoenix will be using its robotic arm to extend a trench horizontally out. The trench dubbed “Dodo,” is the location where Phoenix practiced two scoops earlier in the week.
The Lander’s camera will also be taking additional images of a small pile of soil that was earlier scooped up and dropped onto the surface of Mars.
Further activities with the TEGA oven will be delayed until NASA scientists have a better idea about what went wrong for Phoenix’s first attempt at filling the oven with dirt.
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