Washington (AFP) June 10, 2008 - Clumpy soil on Mars has further hampered the Phoenix lander's attempts to obtain samples for analysis by the spacecraft's test instruments, mission experts said.
Washington (AFP) June 8, 2008 - A soil sample from the Martian arctic dug up by the Phoenix probe appears to be too firmly clumped to deliver any particles into the spacecraft's main test instrument, mission experts said.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 08, 2008 - The arm of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander released a handful of clumpy Martian soil onto a screened opening of a laboratory instrument on the spacecraft Friday, but the instrument did not confirm that any of the sample passed through the screen.
Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Jun 06, 2008 - University of Michigan simulations correctly predicted that the pulsed jets of the Mars Phoenix lander would strip the soil to the subsurface ice or rock as the craft touched down.
Washington (AFP) June 6, 2008 - Presumptive Republican White House nominee John McCain said Thursday he would like to see a manned mission to Mars as part of a better set of priorities for NASA that would better engage the public.
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jun 06, 2008 - Two practice rounds of digging and dumping the clumpy soil at the Martian arctic site this week gave scientists and engineers gathered at the University of Arizona confidence to begin using Phoenix's Robotic Arm to deliver soil samples to instruments on the lander deck.
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jun 06, 2008 - A microscope on NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander has taken images of dust and sand particles with the greatest resolution ever returned from another planet.
Washington (AFP) June 5, 2008 - The US Mars probe Phoenix was ready to dig its backhoe-like arm into the Martian arctic soil for samples scientists hope hold signs of the existence of water and life-supporting organic minerals, NASA said Thursday.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 03, 2008 - Energy production reached a record low for Spirit this past week. On Sol 1560 (May 23, 2008), solar array input was 220 watt-hours (enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for two hours and 12 minutes). On sol 1563, Spirit expended the highest amount of energy yet on running heaters to maintain minimum temperatures for batteries (30.6 watt-hours) and the miniature thermal emission spectrometer (54.0 watt-hours).
Bonn, Germany (SPX) Jun 03, 2008 - Now more than ever, Mars is the focus of planetary research. A week after the resoundingly successful landing manoeuvre of NASA's Phoenix probe, scientists and engineers are celebrating the five-year anniversary of the launch of Mars Express, the first ever European planetary mission.
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jun 03, 2008 - Scientists have discovered what may be ice that was exposed when soil was blown away as NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed on Mars last Sunday, May 25. The possible ice appears in an image the robotic arm camera took underneath the lander, near a footpad.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 02, 2008 - One week after landing on far-northern Mars, NASA Phoenix spacecraft lifted its first scoop of Martian soil as a test of the lander's Robotic Arm.
Paris, France (ESA) May 29, 2008 - With data recorded on board Mars Express, you can hear Phoenix descend on to the surface of the Red Planet. After being processed by the Mars Express Flight Control Team, the sounds of Phoenix descending are audible, loud and clear.
Washington (AFP) May 29, 2008 - NASA's Phoenix Mars lander flexed its robotic arm Thursday in a successful test of the key element in the probe's mission to investigate the Red Planet's soil for conditions conducive to life, NASA said.
Tucson AZ (SPX) May 29, 2008 - The Phoenix lander sent back new sharp color images from Mars late yesterday. Phoenix imaging scientists made a color mosaic of images taken by the lander's Surface Stereo Imager on landing day, May 25, and the first two full sols, or martian days, after landing.
Tucson (LPL) May 29, 2008 - Scientists leading NASA's Phoenix Mars mission from the University of Arizona in Tucson sent commands to unstow its robotic arm and take more images of its landing site early today.
