Comments on: Phoenix Will Try New "Sprinkle" Technique

By: some guy

some guy — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:30:56 +0000

Coz the good 'ol way of doing this is a lot lighter in terms of the load u need to carry. I don't think they could whack in a gamma ray spectrometer and have it come in at a few kgs.

Also, in reguards to the static cling dispersion method of "bang it on something". The lander is made of metal so the soil will be already grounded and banging it on something will do nothing.

By: HolyAvengerOne

HolyAvengerOne — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:16:12 +0000

I'm sure there's a good reason but anyone can tell me why they didn't use a Gamma Ray Spectrometer to detect the composition of the soil ?

I don't understand the advantages of the good ol' method of burning the stuff up to know what its made of.

Any clue ?

By: H-town Mack

H-town Mack — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:51:08 +0000

Why don't they think about sending Asimo up there on a mission? He could be invaluable as a robot assistant for problems like these.

By: neoguru

neoguru — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:33:03 +0000

It's a static charge I tell ya! I suggested this when I first viewed the scoop with its "clinging dust". Vibrating the sample will only increase the "static cling". Worse, if I'm right it will affect the analysis. Possible solutions: a). Bang the sample somehow to possibly discharge the static charge. Or b). Dispense it without the sieve – however, this would tend to favor analysis of large clods over the clinging dust. Problems, problems…..

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:01:16 +0000

This is just "Murphy's Law" jinx mode rearing its ugly head temporarily …….I hope.
Next time thy should include an expandable telescopic arm which unfolds to a distance far enough to see the big picture of the Phoneix itself to inspect it from all angles for missing parts etc.
It could also detect Martian gremlins doing their malicious work.
And , even better include a few humans on board….

By: Sili

Sili — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:14:44 +0000

Following on from Mags' comment:

Is it possible that the soil is so 'wet' that it melts upon coming into contact with the mesh – which might have been heated by the sun – only to rapidly refreeze and gum up the works?

What time of day have they done the vibrating on? If freezing is the issue perhaps doing it at high noon – or in the afternoon, if Martian weather is a akin to ours – will be the ticket.

By: Mags

Mags — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:18:52 +0000

Static electricity makes stuff clumpy. Moisture makes stuff clumpy.

By: PHWilson

PHWilson — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:34:46 +0000

Ok, a spring fell out onto the Martian soil. So… where did it come from? What aspect of operations will it effect? This is like putting a tricycle together and having a part left over. Oye vay.

By: Astrofiend

Astrofiend — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 06:22:32 +0000

I'm sure they'll figure it out and get the results that they're after, but I must say I was a little surprised that they didn't have a little grinder or de-clumpifier (that's the scientific term) on board that then fed into the instruments. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that I guess.

It's bloody-well torture waiting for this thing to bake some samples!

By: the_nthian

the_nthian — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:49:58 +0000

So I'm thinking…you have a frozen soil, and you blast it with the 'retro-rockets' on landing…isn't that obviously going to blow all of the loose or sandy soil a great distance from the lander's position given the lower gravity on Mars? And you are surprised by the fact that what is left under the Pheonix is "clumpy'? Just maybe the heat and the force of the blast did a little 'freeze-thaw' cycle, and that's why the samples are sticking together.
Hopefully we haven't shot ourselves in the foot without thinking this through.

By: law mc

law mc — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:13:33 +0000

wow, such a trivial shortcoming of this fantastic machine. Hopefully it wont bring down the whole mission though. Who can now still argue that humans are not a valuable asset to have in space along side robots?