NASA's new Mars probe Phoenix spent Sunday doing a test "dig and dump" on the Martian surface, while images sent back suggest it may have landed on a large patch of ice, media reports said.
Scientists directed the nearly 8-foot robotic arm to pluck a sample of fine-grained soil from the polar region of Mars. If all goes well, the robotic arm could begin digging within days and transfer samples to onboard scientific instruments for analysis.
On the weekend, sharp new images received from the Phoenix lander largely convinced scientists that the spacecraft's thrusters had uncovered an area of barely covered ice just below the Martian surface, team members said.
"What we see in the images is in agreement with the notion that it may be ice, and we suspect we will see the same thing in the digging area," said Uwe Keller, Robotic Arm Camera lead scientist from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany.
The discovery has excited scientists who were unsure how far below the surface the water-ice existed. Controllers hope the robotic arm will be able to dig down and sample amounts of the presumed ice for any evidence that life once existed on Mars.
The scientists also said the lander's robotic arm on Saturday touched soil on the red planet for the first time and left an impression that resembles a footprint.
The Phoenix Mars Lander touched down on Mars May 25. The mission is expected to last 90 days or until its solar power runs out.
Source:Xinhua/Agencies
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