Phoenix Mars Lander To Begin Rasping Ice Shavings

Rob writes with an excerpt from an article at spacefellowship.com: "A powered rasp on the back of the robotic arm scoop of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is being tested for the first time on Mars in gathering sample shavings of ice. The lander has used its arm in recent days to clear away loose soil from a subsurface layer of hard-frozen material and create a large enough area to use the motorized rasp in a trench informally named 'Snow White.' The Phoenix team prepared commands early Tuesday for beginning a series of tests with the rasp later in the day. Engineers and scientists designed the tests to lead up to, in coming days, delivering a sample of icy soil into one of the lander's laboratory ovens. 'While Phoenix was in development, we added the rasp to the robotic arm design specifically to grind into very hard surface ice,' said Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 'This is the exactly the situation we find we are facing on Mars, so we believe we have the right tool for the job. Honeybee Robotics in New York City did a heroic job of designing and delivering the rasp on a very short schedule.'" I still can't get enough of pictures of a little hunk of metal on Mars.

Comments

Sublimation?

[WmLGann]

I thought I read that the first ice that was uncovered sublimated over night. In fact I recall that was what made the scientists sure that the white rocks were ice. I would think that shavings made by a rasp (rather, a 5-figure space age rasp-like device developed by a subcontractor that wasn't Craftsman or Snap-on) would sublimate rather quickly. What am I missing?

Re:Sublimation?

[Nyago]

From Phoenix's Twitter page:

MarsPhoenix: Team wants to see how quickly test shavings sublimate (turn to vapor) to help them estimate how quickly I need to move real samples to oven.

Re:Sublimation?

[loafula]

I would hope that NASA considered this already. I imagine that the rasp will loosen a sufficient enough quantity so that the ice won't completely sublimate by the time it reaches the testing oven. Sure some will, but hopefully not all of it.

Also, I believe what is important here is not necessarily the H2O ice itself, but what else is contained within it. Even if the ice sublimates, all the minerals, salts, and creepy-crawlies should be left behind.

Picture quality

[FaytLeingod]

How do we get excellent color pics of the eguipment and surroundings and everytime there's some interesting stuff like the ice it's in black and white?

Re:What makes this rasp extra special?

[tolgyesi]

I think the rasp from Home Depot is so cheap because we make up for tool simplicity with smart hands. The rover must do the job of human fingers and collect the material as well.

Re:What makes this rasp extra special?

[Chris Burke]

On the other hand, after 9/11, everybody knows the meaning of heroes. Or do they?

Hmm, let me think who the people consider heroes...
Professionals who risked their lives entering a disaster area to rescue people... Yes.
Civilians who rushed to the scene to do whatever they could to help... Perhaps.
Politico who stood around with a bullhorn telling people to keep doing what they already were doing... No.

Yeah, I think everyone has a pretty good grip on what constitutes a hero. :)

Re:What makes this rasp extra special?

[dotancohen]

All hail our heroic... ahm... rasp deliverers!

I for one welcome our heroic... OH FUCK IT!

More pictures from NASA

[digital bath]

There are some more good photos of the pre- and post-launch rover up at www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/images/new-latest-images-collection_archive_1.html. I especially like this one - I'd thought the rover was quite a bit smaller than that!