Mars Soil Frustrates Phoenix Again

Tablizer writes "The Phoenix Mars lander has been frustrated yet again by Mars's odd soil. The wet nature of the soil they are targeting appears to have made it get stuck in the scoop rather than drop into the oven. Past problems with similarly clumpy soil may have damaged the lander because the vibrator had to be used longer than it was designed for, resulting in a short circuit."

Comments

Definition of 'wet'?

[Anonymous Coward]

What exactly is 'wet' about the soil? I see that the soil is icy (H2O ice or CO2 ice?), but as far as I knew 'wet' and 'icy' are mutually exclusive. Perhaps 'sticky' would be a better term? Or... is this some kind of cool ice that is 'wet' at very cold temperatures as opposed to good old fashioned dry ice?

Inadequate testing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe I simply do not understand the design parameters for this mission, but:

• They send a probe out to dig in the dirt and look for water an alien planet - but didn't think to try the scoop out in the backyard?
• How is it valid to design something that could fail if simply left on for too long?

No offense to the hugely-talented engineers and designers involved in the creation of this spacecraft, but it seems like this probe needed an idiot-proofing pass (like consumer products having, eg: a heat sensor that shuts off a motor if it gets too hot).

Re:Inadequate testing?

[emeade]

After the loss of the first vehicle, they did extensive testing. The whole Phoenix story is truly rising from the ashes, and very interesting. I think it was on the Discovery channel.

My first thought was gravity as well, though I'd think we have enough physics simulations that we could at least do simulated testing under low grav. Looking at the homepage for Phoenix, it looks like they are looking into heat caused by the rasping might be contributing to the problem. Digging holes on Mars just isn't the same as digging them in your backyard, at least not yet.

Re:Vibrator had to be used for longer than designe

[RuBLed]

The research data collected from this event would be used to pave the way for human colonization of Mars. I hope...

All that money..

[handmedowns]

And we couldn't implement "ice-cream" scoop technology =P

Re:Neato

[Benaiah]

Besides the fact that your post was mostly rant there were a few good comments.

All of the problems so far could have been fixed by a guy with a hand trowel. He could dig, sieve and work the vibrator.

I think its time for a more general purpose robot to go.

Also this really should have been more thoroughly tested. I mean one of those things that help you get icecream off the scoop would have been useful now. Guess next time they will think "what if the soil is clumpy" before blowing a cool 1/2 billion. I'd rather watch a redneck playing golf on the moon then hear about mars landers.

Re:Neato

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, your argument started out making sense, yeah it was poorly designed and a waste of time and money to begin with since it wasn't even designed to test for possible life, only whether the soil could support it. Which, you know, regardless of what they found in the soil they would say it could possibly support life to justify the money they wasted. But then somewhere along the way you made it clear what an infantile simpleton you are... by suggesting that "dumbass americans" will not believe what the *American* space program tells them and I kind of stopped reading. Also something about a Mars colony actually working... Are you retarded, or just stupid?

The fact is, Americans are right to be skeptical about NASA's suggestions of the probability of extra-terrestrial life. While the sheer odds may be in favor of e.t. life, the probability of organic life forming anywhere else in our solar system is ridiculously low.

I hate it when some fuck-up has to start out with a good point and then ruin it by acting like a tool. Do you realize that by acting like that, you're actually hurting your argument?

Re:One sad conclusion

[KingRobot]

The Phoenix was built by the UofA... No wet, clumpy soil in AZ.

Silly idea?

[hesaigo999ca]

I wonder if it would be that silly to try and turn the scooper upside down and LIGHLTY bang it on the inside of the oven so that gravity can do the rest and let it fall out...although I dont know how sturdy that oven is nor do I know if the robot is able to apply small pressure turns instead of full tilt ones.

Worked fine in the lab

[grikdog]

Sounds like one too many what-ifs got pruned from the decision tree. Nice. Probably saved a couple million bucks on the ground, got the pup out the door, and sent it all the way to Mars before it flushed its entire budget into thin air. Speaking as a taxpayer, at least the show's been entertaining.