A Look at Mars Soil Before It Bakes in TEGA

By Nancy Atkinson - June 6, 2008 at 12:25 PM UTC | Planetary Science
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NASA's Phoenix Lander scooped up this Martian soil on sol 11 of the mission, (June 5, 2008 here on Earth.) This will be the first soil sample to be sent to the oven of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA, laboratory on the lander deck. The soil will be "baked" sometime today, and the gases that are emitted will be analyzed to determine the chemical make-up of the Martian arctic soil. The material includes a light-toned clod possibly from crusted surface of the ground, similar in appearance to clods observed near a foot of the lander. This is an approximate true-color view of the contents of the scoop on the Robotic Arm, created by combining separate images taken by the Robotic Arm Camera, using illumination by red, green and blue light-emitting diodes on the camera. .

This image shows the Robotic Arm scoop containing a soil sample poised over the partially open door of TEGA's oven. The material inside the scoop has been slightly brightened in this image.

This image shows the trenches dug by Phoenix's Robotic Arm. The trench on the left was nicknamed "Dodo" and was dug first as a test. The trench on the right is "Baby Bear," and the sample dug from this trench will be delivered to TEGA. The Baby Bear trench is 9 centimeters (3.1 inches) wide and 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) deep.

News Source:

Phoenix News

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com