PIA11042: Images from Phoenix's MECA Instruments
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Phoenix
 Spacecraft:  Phoenix Mars Lander
 Instrument:  MECA
 Product Size:  1962 x 1472 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  University of Arizona
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA11042.tif (8.676 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA11042.jpg (279.8 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

The image on the upper left is from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Optical Microscope after a sample informally called "Sorceress" was delivered to its silicon substrate on the 38th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (July 2, 2008).

A 3D representation of the same sample is on the right, as seen by Phoenix's Atomic Force Microscope. This is 100 times greater magnification than the view from the Optical Microscope, and the most highly magnified image ever seen from another world.

The Optical Microscope and the Atomic Force Microscope are part of Phoenix's Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer instrument.

The Atomic Force Microscope was developed by a Swiss-led consortium in collaboration with Imperial College London.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/University of Neuchatel

Image Addition Date:
2008-08-14