Online seit: 12. April 2006
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-104NASA's Phoenix Lander Has An Oven Full Of Martian SoilJet Propulsion LaboratoryJune 11, 2008TUCSON, Ariz. - NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has filled its first ovenwith Martian soil."We have an oven full," Phoenix co-investigator Bill Boynton of theUniversity of Arizona, Tucson, said today. "It took 10 seconds to fillthe oven. The ground moved."Boynton leads the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer instrument, or TEGA,for Phoenix. The instrument has eight separate tiny ovens to bake andsniff the soil to assess its volatile ingredients, such as water.The lander's Robotic Arm delivered a partial scoopful of clumpy soilfrom a trench informally called "Baby Bear" to the number 4 oven on TEGAlast Friday, June 6, which was 12 days after landing.A screen covers each of TEGA's eight ovens. The screen is to preventlarger bits of soil from clogging the narrow port to each oven so thatfine particles fill the oven cavity, which is no wider than a pencillead. Each TEGA chute also has a whirligig mechanism that vibrates thescreen to help shake small particles through.Only a few particles got through when the screen on oven number 4 wasvibrated on June 6, 8 and 9.Boynton said that the oven might have filled because of the cumulativeeffects of all the vibrating, or because of changes in the soil'scohesiveness as it sat for days on the top of the screen."There's something very unusual about this soil, from a place on Marswe've never been before," said Phoenix Principal Investigator PeterSmith of the University of Arizona. "We're interested in learning whatsort of chemical and mineral activity has caused the particles to clumpand stick together."Plans prepared by the Phoenix team for the lander's activities onThursday, June 12 include sprinkling Martian soil on the delivery portfor the spacecraft's Optical Microscope and taking additional portionsof a high-resolution color panorama of the lander's surroundings.The Phoenix mission is led by Smith with project management at JPL anddevelopment partnership at Lockheed Martin, located in Denver.International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; theUniversity of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen andAarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the FinnishMeteorological Institute.------------------------------------------------------------------------Media contacts: Guy Webster 818-354-6278Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.guy.webster@jpl.nasa.govDwayne Brown 202-358-1726NASA Headquarters, Washingtondwayne.c.brown@nasa.govSara Hammond 520-626-1974University of Arizona, Tucsonshammond@lpl.arizona.edu