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Phoenix landing preview

Less than two weeks before the Phoenix spacecraft arrives at Mars, this previews the landing and the planned science on the planet's surface.

 Presentation | Q&A

STS-82: In review

The second servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope was accomplished in Feb. 1997 when the shuttle astronauts replaced a pair of instruments and other internal equipment on the observatory.

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STS-81: In review

The fifth shuttle docking mission to the space station Mir launched astronaut Jerry Linenger to begin his long-duration stay on the complex and brought John Blaha back to Earth.

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Discovery rolls out

Discovery travels from the Vehicle Assembly Building to pad 39A in preparation for the STS-124 mission.

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STS-124: The programs

In advance of shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission to the station, managers from both programs discuss the flight.

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STS-124: The mission

A detailed preview of Discovery's mission to deliver Japan's science laboratory Kibo to the station is provided in this briefing.

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STS-124: Spacewalks

Three spacewalks are planned during Discovery's STS-124 assembly mission to the station.

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STS-124: The Crew

The Discovery astronauts, led by commander Mark Kelly, meet the press in the traditional pre-flight news conference.

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Discovery to VAB

For its STS-124 mission, shuttle Discovery was transferred from its hangar to the Vehicle Assembly Building for attachment to a fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters.

 Transfer | Hoist

Complex 40 toppling

The Complex 40 mobile service tower at Cape Canaveral's former Titan rocket launch pad was toppled using explosives on April 27.

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Phoenix tries to deliver first sample to instrument deck
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: June 7, 2008

An image beamed back to Earth from the Phoenix Mars lander early Saturday shows the platform's robotic arm has dumped a load of dirt near the opening of a tiny high-temperature oven, but a sensor inside the instrument did not detect any soil traveling through the narrow portal.


The Phoenix robot arm released a sample of soil onto a screened opening of the lander's Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA) during the 12th martian day, or sol, June 6. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute
 
The black-and-white image shows a mound of dirt on top of the opening to one of eight single-use ovens inside the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, an instrument to bake samples to sniff out the ingredients of the Martian soil.

But an infrared sensor inside the TEGA instrument was unable to confirm any soil made its way into the tiny oven, which measures one inch long with a diameter comparable to pencil lead, according to mission officials.

Each oven is designed to heat samples in cycles ranging from relatively low temperatures to more than 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. The four days of heating cycles are designed to first search for water, and then break down more complex mineral compounds.

"It's a very small oven, but it's powerful in its ability to analyze those soils. We don't get a lot of soil, but we get a very accurate analysis of what goes in," said Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator from the University of Arizona.

Scientists at the Phoenix mission's control room in Tucson, Ariz., sent commands Friday afternoon for the robotic arm's scoop to release about one cup of soil onto the entrance of TEGA oven No. 4. The sample was retrieved on Thursday from a site scientists have named Baby Bear.

The TEGA oven selected to test the first sample was prepared to receive the soil earlier this week. Scientists ordered two doors protecting the oven to unlatch, but one of the doors only partially opened. Officials previously said the issue would have no impact on science operations if enough soil was dumped on the screened pathway to the oven.

"We wanted a fair amount of sample because the TEGA door wasn't fully opened. We want to make sure that we can get enough sample in there," said Matt Robinson, robotic arm flight software lead from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.


This image taken on June 5 shows the robotic arm scoop containing a soil sample poised over the partially open door of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer's number four cell, or oven. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University
 
TEGA was also the victim of an electrical glitch last week, but controllers were able to resolve the problem by switching to a backup system.

Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator from the University of Arizona, addressed the TEGA team's struggles with the instrument during a Friday teleconference with reporters.

"Just from watching them perform, they have really been stressed a bit, and they have been throughout the entire development of this instrument. It's a very, very, very complicated instrument, if not one of the more complicated instruments ever flown in space," Smith said.

Smith said Friday he hoped the instrument would work as planned during the sample collection and analysis phase.

"At each step there seems to be some little difficulty that causes them to circle the wagons, and work long hours, and do testing in their laboratory and in our simulated Mars environment here. So they deserve a break," Smith said.

Scientists are already examining the instrument's latest anomaly, and early speculation centers on the thick texture of the soil. Soil passing into the oven must go through a screened entrance that only allows in particles smaller than 0.04 inches across.

"I think it's the cloddiness of the soil and not having enough fine granular material," said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, co-investigator for the robotic arm.

Arvidson said the science team is considering several options to get the soil inside the oven, including using mechanical shakers designed to help feed small amounts soil through the screened entrance to a funnel leading into the oven.

The shakers normally vibrate for five minutes during the sample collection process, acting like a hopper used in agricultural activities.

Images taken Thursday showed the rust-colored soil inside the arm's scoop, revealing several thick clods with mysterious white streaks that researchers believe could be salts or traces of ice. The white material was observed in two previous test scoops and inside trenches carved out by the arm during digging.


This approximately true-color view of the contents of the scoop on June 5. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute
 
Smith said the science team is divided on whether the white material is salt or ice. Smith said he believes the streaks probably aren't ice because more vigorous digging would likely be required to scrape samples from the hard ice table.

Analysis by the TEGA instrument's calorimeter and mass spectrometer would be able to quickly confirm if there is significant water ice in the sample, according to Smith.

"As you might imagine, water is the first thing that's cooked out as you start to heat the oven," Smith said.

Confirmation of salt in the dirt will have to wait until the arm drops another sample into a chemistry experiment that adds water to the soil to create a muddy simulation of a wet Martian surface. Salt would also be a significant discovery because it is left behind as water evaporates from the soil, Smith said.

Scientists expected to have the first results from the TEGA instrument by early next week, but the ground team has suspended normal operations of the experiment as they investigate how to get soil into the oven.

Arvidson said scientists may use the arm to push down on the soil before future sample digs to help break up clods of dirt.

Phoenix will spend Saturday taking pictures to study the soil's tendency to form thick clumps, giving scientists further insight into the characteristics of the surface's upper layer, according to a NASA statement.

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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S BRIEFING REVEALS POSSIBLE ICE PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY'S ROBOT ARM AND PICTURE BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S PICTURE AND UPDATE BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S PICTURE AND UPDATE BRIEFING PRESENTATION | Q&A
VIDEO: MONDAY AFTERNOON'S UPDATE PRESENTATION | Q&A
VIDEO: HOW MARS ORBITER GOT THE PARACHUTE PHOTO PLAY

VIDEO: PHOENIX LANDS ON MARS! PLAY
VIDEO: MIDNIGHT POST-LANDING BRIEFING PRESENTATION | Q&A
VIDEO: POST-LANDING INTERVIEW WITH MARS PROGRAM DIR. PLAY
VIDEO: POST-LANDING INTERVIEW WITH PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR PLAY
VIDEO: POST-LANDING INTERVIEW WITH PROJECT MANAGER PLAY

VIDEO: SUNDAY'S PRE-LANDING STATUS PRESENTATION | Q&A
VIDEO: SATURDAY STATUS BRIEFING PRESENTATION | Q&A
VIDEO: ENTRY, DESCENT AND LANDING EXPLAINED PLAY
VIDEO: ANIMATION OF PHOENIX MISSION WITH NARRATION PLAY
VIDEO: HIGHLIGHTS FROM MARS ROVER SPIRIT'S LANDING PLAY
VIDEO: HIGHLIGHTS FROM MARS ROVER OPPORTUNITY'S LANDING PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY STATUS BRIEFING PRESENTATION | Q&A
VIDEO: LANDING PREVIEW BRIEFING PRESENTATION | Q&A

VIDEO: PHOENIX LAUNCHES! PLAY
VIDEO: POST-FLIGHT COMMENTS FROM LAUNCH MANAGER PLAY
VIDEO: WIDE-SCREEN FROM PATRICK AFB CAMERA PLAY
VIDEO: TRACKER FOLLOWS ROCKET TO MECO PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH AS SEEN FROM THE PRESS SITE PLAY
VIDEO: PAD'S MOBILE GANTRY ROLLED BACK FOR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED HIGHLIGHTS OF PHOENIX CAMPAIGN PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED HIGHLIGHTS OF ROCKET CAMPAIGN PLAY
VIDEO: THE PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: OVERVIEW OF PHOENIX MISSION TO MARS PLAY
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