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A group blog composed of scientists, show hosts and producers, Correlations is the official blog of WIRED SCIENCE. Tips, questions or comments? E-mail us at correlations@kcet.org.

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05.30.08

Safe to Proceed

by Damon Gambuto Department: Space

After some tense moments involving a sniff test that identified a "short circuit," the Phoenix mission passed the "safe to proceed" review.

Meeting the criteria to proceed means the scientific instruments can be used without fear of a dreaded "bad-Steve-Guttenberg-movie" incident occurring. Well, that and the Phoenix can begin using its tools to analyze the Martian surface to shed some light on the chemical composition of the soil.

The instrument that caused the hiccup is the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA). The TEGA includes a calorimeter and a mass spectrometer. When being tested there was electrical activity that corresponded to a short circuit in the spectrometer portion. This, however, hasn't hampered the mission.

The below photograph shows what is thought to be either rock or ice on the ground.

The Phoenix's robotic arm camera captured the image which shows the rock or ice underneath the lander. The substance is thought to have been exposed when soil blew away during the powered landing. Investigator Ray Arvidson of Washington University said, "We could very well be seeing rock, or we could be seeing exposed ice in the retrorocket blast zone." He went on to say, "We think that if the hard features are ice, they will become brighter because atmospheric water vapor will collect as new frost on the ice. Full confirmation of what we're seeing will come when we excavate and analyze layers in the nearby workspace."

That process is now under way. While there have been some anomalies detected in instrument functionality, the Lander is designed to be flexible in how it manages the tasks at (robotic) hand. Way to go, engineers!

Okay, I know I am a little more excited by all of this than your average bear, but c'mon, it's a robot beaming back information about a planet millions of miles away!

Oh, and speaking of things that don't pass the sniff test. . . Remember that UFO video I referenced yesterday? Yawn.