Photos from Mars: Cool, and Good Science

The Phoenix Mars Lander is having trouble with some of its excavation work, but there's still new information coming back to Earth.

• "Highest Resolution Image of Dust and Sand Yet Acquired on Mars"
  NASA/JPL (June 5, 2008)
  • "This mosaic of four side-by-side microscope images (one a color composite) was acquired by the Optical Microscope, a part of the Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) instrument suite on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. Taken on the ninth Martian day of the mission, or Sol 9 (June 3, 2008), the image shows a 3 millimeter (0.12 inch) diameter silicone target after it has been exposed to dust kicked up by the landing. It is the highest resolution image of dust and sand ever acquired on Mars. The silicone substrate provides a sticky surface for holding the particles to be examined by the microscope...."
• "Possible Nature of Particles Viewed by Mars Lander's Optical Microscope"
  NASA/JPL (June 5, 2008)
  • "The color composite on the right was acquired by the Optical Microscope, a part of the Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) instrument suite on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. The image was taken on the ninth Martian day of the mission, or Sol 9 (June 3, 2008) to examine dust that had fallen onto an exposed surface. The translucent particle highlighted at bottom center is of comparable size to white particles in a Martian soil sample (upper pictures) seen two sols earlier inside the scoop of Phoenix's Robotic Arm as imaged by the lander's Robotic Arm Camera.
  • "The white particles may be examples of the abundant salts that have been found in the Martian soil by previous missions. Further investigations will be needed to determine the white material's composition and whether translucent particles like the one in this microscopic image are found in Martian soil samples. "