Second Dirt Sample Delivered to Phoenix Ovens
“We have three tools on the scoop to help access ice and icy soil,” Arvidson said. “We can scoop material with the backhoe using the front titanium blade; we can scrape the surface with the tungsten carbide secondary blade on the bottom of the scoop; and we can use a high-speed rasp that comes out of a slot at the back of the scoop.”
A second sample of Martian dirt was recently delivered by the Phoenix’s Robotic Arm to the onboard wet chemistry laboratory, testing several methods for the best delivery to the TEGA. There will be a comparison to the results from the first sample analyzed two weeks ago from the MECA laboratory—part of the Phoenix’s Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer. The first sample showed that Mars contains several minerals that are necessary to sustain life, which includes chloride, potassium, and magnesium.
This past Monday the lander tested a method for scraping up a sample of ice material, then placing it into the scoop at the end of the robotic arm. The first sample was from shaved samples from scrapings in the “Wonderland” area, using a rasp for shaving the subsurface icy layer, but no actual material was placed in the scoop. The Phoenix mission team leaders associate the Mars surface being tested by the Phoenix similar to scraping a cement sidewalk, proving to be an extremely difficult target.
Images will be taking of the sample scooping method of before, during, and after the actual testing to evaluate how well it works. The Phoenix science tem will use this method. If it goes well it will be used to gather the next sample for the TEGA delivery—the lander’s Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer—in order to bake samples and analyzing its vapors for composition information. The TEGA had developed a short circuit last month, which may reoccur when the ovens are turned on for the analyzation, but this is still unknown as of yet. Because of this, every TEGA sample delivery is treated as if it were its last one, with the $420 million dollar mission expected to operate for 90 Martian days, or until winter on Mars begins.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 4:13 am and is filed under Public Relations, Space Agency News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
