This image from the Optical Microscope (sol 4) shows a waterdrop-like feature. Could that be any frozen liquid?

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=921&cID=25

Another odd (spring-like) object in the sand http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/lg_838.jpg


(Oops didn't see the new Microscope thread)

Intriguing droplet like object.

Isn't the droplet silicone?
I was fooled by something similar a few years ago with the rovers...

And the fantastic martian greeting dance on the top left?!

EDITED: Stu...you were right...a monster was created...

Up to now, we are acquainted about the Phoenix position and its orientation. Their solar panels are more or less aligned on the west-east line. The Robotic Arm is at the corner of one of legs which is on the north position along with other legs. The third leg is positioned on the south side.

Now, I still don't know really about what surface can the RA reach?

Does anyone else think that we are looking at bedrock ice here exposed by the decent rockets? What else could the large, smooth outcrop be under the lander? (near the top of the image).
It can't be a big rock since no such rock is seen in the pre-landing MRO image and the odds of landing on the only large rock anywhere around are astronomically small.
Isn't this significant? Doesn't this imply digging for ice will be a piece of cake? It looks like there are not a lot of rocks frozen into the ice. It looks smooth and even a bit eroded (see small 'channel').

P.S. I am starting to wonder if many of the smooth cobbles around the lander are actually hunks of dusty ice and not 'rocks' after all. In the press briefing they did make note of how the 'rocks' were lighter in color than the soil and were flat shaped...

Lucky for us pykrete only can be made with porous and fibrous material. That stuff is really tough.

Now that the arm is deployed, did anyone catch the science plan for today, Sol 5 ?

Could someone point me to a thread or link that compares Pheonix's main camera with MER's Pancam?

Thanks in advance!

Kung

"Does anyone else think that we are looking at bedrock ice here exposed by the decent rockets? What else could the large, smooth outcrop be under the lander?"

A better explanation would be duricrust, a common observation at the older landing sites. Fine-grained regolith (soil) cemented by salts left from the evaporation of water.

Phil

"WAY more horizon relief than I was expecting."

I thought so to. I talked to Peter Smith at LPSC 2007 about that - just after Green Valley was announced as the site, and said that it looked like we might actually see some relief - the previous sites were even flatter. He warned that the valley was in fact very wide and shallow, so don't expect too much. But I'm very happy to see what we are seeing. I hope taht there will be time during the mission for high quality horizon imaging with a variety of illumination angles, because one view doesn't tell the whole story. Ideally, every point should be viewed up-sun, down-sun and lit from the side. Look at Viking 2 images of the eastern horizon to see what i mean. Totally different with different lighting.

Phil

The press conf at 6pm UT will cover it.

Doug

http://www.met.tamu.edu/mars/
click on SSI vital statistics

not sure what this means:
Diopter (filters R6 and R7) best focus at 1.2 m, in focus from 1 to 1.4 m

Cool! Those "filters" are then really lenses for closer-up work, perhaps optimised for taking images of the crucial TEGA and MEVA soil apertures.

Airbag

Either the NASA TV stream is bad today or (much more likely) my in-laws' Internet service is crap, so I had a terrible experience trying to view today's press briefing, and I missed much of the discussion of the planned activities for this sol. Can anyone post a summary here? All I caught was, they are planning on doing some color imaging with RAC of those platy things underneath the lander, to try to figure out if it's duricrust or ice.

--Emily

today's briefing..
no intelligent questions..