Phoenix To Collect Mars Soil Samples

The Phoenix Mars lander unstowed its robot arm last week with some difficulty.

Initial tests by instruments aboard the Mars lander indicate that there is a 1.5-inch layer of soil with interesting implications.

"It could be salt or it may be the ice layer we are looking for," Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith told a news conference.

The camera on the Phoenix Mars has sent back many images, including what may be exposed ice under the Phoenix Mars lander itself. But according to experts, the area beneath the lander can't be analyzed because it is out of the robotic arm's range, Reuters reported.

The Phoenix mission was prompted by the detection of subsurface water by the Odyssey in 2002. NASA has been searching Mars for the past decade via orbiters and a pair of on-planet rovers for traces of water or other signs Mars could have at one time supported life. The Phoenix Mars lander touched down on the surface of Mars after a 10-month journey.