This image from the Robotic Arm Camera on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows that soil remained inside the arm's scoop after an attempt to deliver a soil sample to a laboratory oven during the lander's 60th Martian day, or sol (July 26, 2008).

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.