Astronomy Picture of the Day

NASA ^ | 6/8/08 | NASA

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Mars Soil Sample Ready to Analyze
Credit: Phoenix Mission Team, NASA, JPL-Caltech, U. Arizona

Explanation: What surprises are hidden in the soils of Mars? To help find out, the Phoenix Lander Phoenix Lander which arrived on Mars two weeks ago has attempted to place a scoop of soil in Phoenix's Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA). Pictured above, the dirt-filled scoop approaches one of TEGA's eight ovens. Once in the oven, a soil material will be baked and the emitted gasses categorized by a mass spectrometer. Quite possibly, some of the light colored material visible in the scoop has the same composition as the light material imaged near the foot of the Lander, which may be ice. Phoenix is scheduled to spend the next three months digging, baking and chemically analyzing its immediate surroundings to better understand Mars and whether the boundary between ice and soil was ever capable of supporting life.

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[Delta 21]

Where can I get a copy of that “Messages from Earth” CD?

[beebuster2000]

yeah,l whats “messages from earth” all about? what, martians have cd players now? hope they are not still on 8 track.

[xmission]

Wouldn’t be great if it was Obama speeches. I suppose if the right sort of alien finds it, we’ll be Ok, but the wrong sort... If they find out we don’t want to defend ourselves... /s

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Dude! Quit leavin’ your CDs on the dashboard of the Rover; they’ll warp!

[SouthDixie]

Science Daily:

"This is the first time lidar technology has been used on the surface of another planet," said the meteorological station's chief engineer, Mike Daly, from MDA in Brampton, Canada. "The team is elated that we are getting such interesting data about the dust dynamics in the atmosphere."

[6SJ7]

It would be funny if someone at Mission Control had swapped out the “Messages from Earth” CD with a “KISS” CD before launch.

[bravo whiskey]

NOTE TO WORLD. that is an AMERICAN flag, not an eu flag, islamic flag or un flag.

[RightWhale]

They have a problem. Seems they dumped the sample on the oven but none actually got into the oven. Now what?

[tet68]

Troubleshooting:

Should the EZbake Oven tm. become clogged simply turn unit
over and tap lightly. In the event this does not clear unit
remove the separation screen by unscrewing the four screws.
Should unit still be clogged further disassembly is not reccomended, instead unit should be sent to authorized repair facility. Warning! further disassembly will void warranty.

[RightWhale]

Right. Before trying the tapping maneuver they need to hold a dozen high level staff meetings and decide how much overtime to pay the programming crew.

[sig226]

Bad aim. Problem with young ‘uns. He’ll get better.

[NCC-1701]

On Mars.