Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - '7 Minutes Of Terror'

troutman · 06-10-2008, 09:19 AM

Martian soil is "clumping" together, and not enough is getting through to be analyzed:

http://www.planetary.org/news/2008/0...enix_Does.html

Last Thursday, June 5, Phoenix delivered a scoopful of clumpy Martian topsoil to the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyer (TEGA), which was to be the first instrument to conduct analysis on the sample. The lander carried the delivery out with such finesse and precision, the achievement all but ended the checkout and characterization phase and initiated the mission's research agenda. All it had to do was dump it into the TEGA funnel on Friday, and it did that with swiftness and enough accuracy to place a pile of Martian topsoil on the instruments sifting screen. Then, Mars tossed one of its mysterious curve balls.

"On Saturday we found out that we had a very large amount of soil that had been delivered to the screen, which is the opening into the funnel that leads the dirt into the oven itself," explained William Boynton, of the University of Arizona, TEGA lead scientist. Inside the oven, the sample's mineral make-up was to be sniffed and baked out. "Although we had an awful lot of dirt on that screen, virtually none of it made it down into the oven," he said.

This newfound realization about the clumpy, and indurated or hardened, soil properties, sent the TEGA team back into a huddle and today Phoenix was commanded to test a revised method for delivering samples from the stubborn clumps to its instruments.

Basically, the new approach calls for the lander to sprinkle or "dribble," as Boynton puts it, the sample onto and into the instruments instead of dumping the whole scoopful. To accomplish that, Phoenix will hold its scoop at an angle above the delivery target and sprinkle out a small amount of the sample by vibrating the scoop, running a motorized rasp on the bottom of it.

06-10-2008, 09:19 AM	#110
troutman Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Crowsnest Pass Exp:	Martian soil is "clumping" together, and not enough is getting through to be analyzed: http://www.planetary.org/news/2008/0...enix_Does.html Last Thursday, June 5, Phoenix delivered a scoopful of clumpy Martian topsoil to the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyer (TEGA), which was to be the first instrument to conduct analysis on the sample. The lander carried the delivery out with such finesse and precision, the achievement all but ended the checkout and characterization phase and initiated the mission's research agenda. All it had to do was dump it into the TEGA funnel on Friday, and it did that with swiftness and enough accuracy to place a pile of Martian topsoil on the instruments sifting screen. Then, Mars tossed one of its mysterious curve balls. "On Saturday we found out that we had a very large amount of soil that had been delivered to the screen, which is the opening into the funnel that leads the dirt into the oven itself," explained William Boynton, of the University of Arizona, TEGA lead scientist. Inside the oven, the sample's mineral make-up was to be sniffed and baked out. "Although we had an awful lot of dirt on that screen, virtually none of it made it down into the oven," he said. This newfound realization about the clumpy, and indurated or hardened, soil properties, sent the TEGA team back into a huddle and today Phoenix was commanded to test a revised method for delivering samples from the stubborn clumps to its instruments. Basically, the new approach calls for the lander to sprinkle or "dribble," as Boynton puts it, the sample onto and into the instruments instead of dumping the whole scoopful. To accomplish that, Phoenix will hold its scoop at an angle above the delivery target and sprinkle out a small amount of the sample by vibrating the scoop, running a motorized rasp on the bottom of it.