PIA11720: 'La Mancha' Trench Dug by Phoenix Mars Lander
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Phoenix
 Spacecraft:  Phoenix Mars Lander
 Instrument:  Surface Stereo Imager (SSI)
 Product Size:  720 x 720 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  University of Arizona
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA11720.tif (1.557 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA11720.jpg (128.1 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:

Click here for annotated version of PIA11720
Annotated Version

Click on the image for larger view

The Surface Stereo Imager camera on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander captured this view on the mission's 148th Martian day, or sol (Oct. 24, 2008), about a week before the lander's final communication.

The view shows a trench called "La Mancha" excavated by Phoenix. Textures of the soil where the arm has disturbed it are indicators of the cloddiness of the soil.

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/Texas A&M University

Image Addition Date:
2008-12-15