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Phoenix's Workplace Map

June 23, 2008
This image from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows the spacecraft's activity on June 16, 2008, after the spacecraft touched down on the Red Planet's northern polar plains. Phoenix's solar panels are seen in the foreground.

This image from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows the spacecraft's recent activity site as of the 23rd Martian day of the mission, or Sol 22 (June 16, 2008), after the spacecraft touched down on the Red Planet's northern polar plains. The mosaic was taken by the lander's Surface Stereo Imager (SSI). Phoenix's solar panels are seen in the foreground.

The trench informally called "Snow White" was dug by Phoenix's Robotic Arm in a patch of Martian soil near the center of a polygonal surface feature, nicknamed "Cheshire Cat." The "dump pile" is located at the top of the trench, and has been dubbed "Croquet Ground." The digging site has been nicknamed "Wonderland."

Snow White, seen here in an SSI image from Sol 22 (June 16, 2008) is about 2 centimeters (.8 inches) deep and 30 centimeters (12 inches) long. As of Sol 24 (June 18, 2008), the trench is 5 centimeters (2 inches deep) and the trench has been renamed "Snow White 1," as a second trench has been dug to its right and nicknamed "Snow White 2."

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter.

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