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PIA10746: Phoenix Test Sample Site
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows a small horizontal depression by the robotic scraping bland during its first test dig and dump on June 1, 2008. The test sample shown was taken from the digging area informally known as 'Knave of Hearts.'
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Phoenix 
 Spacecraft:  Phoenix Mars Lander
 Instrument:  Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) 
 Product Size:  512 x 512 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  JPL 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA10746.tif (262.6 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA10746.jpg (73.88 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:

This image, acquired by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager on Sol 7, the seventh day of the mission (June 1, 2008), shows the so-called "Knave of Hearts" first-dig test area to the north of the lander. The Robotic Arm's scraping blade left a small horizontal depression above where the sample was taken.

Scientists speculate that white material in the depression left by the dig could represent ice or salts that precipitated into the soil. This material is likely the same white material observed in the sample in the Robotic Arm's scoop.

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:
2008-06-02