Surface ice found as Phoenix prepares to dig
by Rich Bowden - Jun 1 2008, 20:59
This view from the Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows the first impression –- dubbed Yeti and shaped like a wide footprint -- made on the Martian soil by the robotic arm scoop on Sol 6, the sixth Martian day of the mission, (May 31, 2008). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
As NASA's space probe Phoenix prepares to dig into the Martian surface, photos taken by the spacecraft on the weekend appear to show it to have landed fortuitously on an area of barely covered ice. The scientific team controlling the probe has said the discovery of the ice so close to the surface is an excellent sign.
"We were worried that it may be 30, 40, 50 centimeters deep, which would be a lot of work. Now we are fairly certain that we can easily get down to the ice table," said Peter Smith, a University of Arizona scientist who is the chief project investigator.
The discovery has excited scientists who were unsure how far below the surface the water-ice existed. Controllers hope the robotic arm will be able to dig down and sample amounts of the presumed ice for any evidence that life once existed on Mars, or indeed if it continues to struggle on.
"What we see in the images is in agreement with the notion that it may be ice, and we suspect we will see the same thing in the digging area," said Uwe Keller, Robotic Arm Camera lead scientist from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany.
In preparation for the dig, the craft's robotic arm reached out and made its first footprint-like impression on the surface of the Red Planet on the weekend, an imprint captured by Phoenix's Stereo Surface Imager.
"This first touch allows us to utilize the Robotic Arm accurately. We are in a good situation for the upcoming sample acquisition and transfer," said David Spencer, Phoenix's surface mission manager from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
The robotic arm will begin its digging after several more days of testing.
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