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Mars Lander Scrapes Icy Soil in Wonderland
By Space.com staff
posted: 28 June 2008
04:21 pm ET
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Untitled Document
NASA's
Phoenix Mars Lander has scraped to icy soil in the "Wonderland" area
on, NASA announced on Friday.
Phoenix scientists are now assured they have a complete soil-layer profile in
Wonderland's "Snow White" extended trench. Reaching the icy layer
confirms that surface soil, subsurface soil and icy soil can be sampled at a
single trench.
By rasping
to icy soil, the robotic arm on Phoenix proved it could flatten the layer where
soil meets ice, exposing the icy flat surface below the soil. Scientists can
now proceed with plans to scoop and scrape samples into Phoenix's various
analytical instruments. Scientists will test samples to determine if some ice
in the soil may have been liquid in the past during warmer climate cycles.
Observations
from the lander's Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer made last week indicated
that the soil had at some time in the past interacted
with water.
Phoenix has
also photographed white
chunks in trenches that mission scientists think must be ice.
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