Scientists were finally able to deliver a soil sample to an instrument aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander after several frustrating days of failed attempts, mission controllers announced.The welcome news came on Wednesday morning, when Phoenix beamed back the results of its activities from the previous day to scientists on Earth.
For the last several days, scientists had tried to dislodge the clumpy soil sitting on top of a screen that basically feeds samples into the ovens. The soil was stuck outside the instrument's entrance. The solution was to run a vibrator on the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA), which is designed to heat up the soil samples to analyze their composition.
Read More
