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Phoenix operators delay initial dig for more practice |
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Written by Derek Kessler on
Thursday, 05 June 2008
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 Mission operators as the University of Arizona have been sure to get plenty of practice operating Phoenix from afar before they dig in, literally. Throughout this week the operators of NASA’s $420 million Mars lander have been touching the soil at the probe’s arctic landing site and performing “dig and dump” maneuvers, which are very much what they sound like.
The Phoenix mission was sent to Mars to determine how much ice is in the Martian soil, and whether the chemical composition of that soil could have been capable of supporting life. To do that, Phoenix is equipped with a back how-like shovel that will dig into the soil, retrieve samples, and put them through a series of labs to analyze their chemical content. The wet chemistry labs that will be used for the primary analysis are one-use systems, as Phoenix has no way to dump, clean, and refill the trays (carrying a reserve water supply to Mars would have been very costly). Thus, mission operators will only have eight dig attempts before Phoenix reverts to serving as a Martian weather station.
Before they dig into the soil for experiments, the University of Arizona operators are making sure they practice moving around the robotic arm and making impressions and shallow test digs into the soil. Even so, images of the digs have revealed some interesting bits. For one the soil is crumbly, not the dusty soils prevalent near the equator where the rovers are hanging out. The soil is also laced with streaks and bits of light material, which is hypothesized to either be water-formed salts, or actual ice crystals in the soil.
The first dig and dump, which literally involves making a shallow scoop into the soil and then dumping back out, was performed on Sunday. When operators returned to work on Tuesday, they initially couldn’t find their first dig and dump site, which worried them enough about their proficiency with rover operations to delay the beginning of experimentation a day for more practice. Eventually they did find it, and it was right where they left it.
So a second dig and dump command was sent, and much to the confusion of operators, this time some soil stuck to the scoop after the dump was completed. Now they must be careful when operating the 2.35-meter arm that they not jostle it enough that it dumps dirt onto the lander.
The delay was also used to sort out a glitch encountered with the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA), an instrument that heats of soil samples and then analyzes the vapors that are given off. While engineers on Earth determined that the broken heating filament, one of two installed, would not compromise the integrity of the results, the doors into the TEGA did not open entirely. The door only opened part-way, a result believed to have come from sticking due to uneven heating from the sun. Even so, the doors are open far enough that there apparently should be no issue navigating the shovel to the TEGA.
Three soil sites have been picked for the initial experiments. Located just to the right of the first dig and dump site, they’ve been dubbed Baby Bear, Mama Bear, and Papa Bear. The first dig has already been completed, though Phoenix operators are waiting for confirmation that they’ve dug up a good sample before dumping it into the TEGA.
Discuss: TrekUnited Forum
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