Archive: Phoenix on Mars

After numerous failures, scientists are able to shake a sample of Martian soil into an oven on the lander, setting the stage for long-awaited tests.

If scientists can’t get the soil sample to break into bits small enough to fit in the oven, they’ll try another strategy.

The NASA spacecraft uses its robotic arm to gather the sample, which will be tested for evidence that the Red Planet could have supported life.

The spacecraft will gouge the planet’s surface to test water and soil samples at a site that scientists have dubbed Holy Cow.

A communications link from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, knocked out by a cosmic ray or some other high-energy particle, is later restored. ‘Phoenix is healthy; everything is fine,’ an official at JPL says.

The latest pictures show a landscape apparently shaped by the movement of ice just below the planet’s surface. That’s a good early sign for the mission in its quest to ‘follow the water.’

After sending back its first photos, the probe appears well positioned for its task, digging for indicators of life on the Red Planet, jubilant scientists at JPL say.

If the lander deploys properly, the spacecraft will dig for ice, then melt and analyze it to see if it could have supported life.