Cameras of the Phoenix rover recorded an object (presumably a stone) on the surface of Mars near the landing site of the probe, which had moved from one place to another under the influence of an unknown origin, CNews reports with reference to Space Weather.
The movement of the object is obvious from the trail it left on the ground. It did not take place in a straight line, but along a relatively complex trajectory: the stone changed its direction of movement at least three times. Other nearby stones remained motionless.
The nature of the forces that caused the movement of the stone is not entirely clear. It could be caused by the wind, the pressure of the gases from the brake motors of the Phoenix probe, direct mechanical or other effects of the probe's equipment, or some other reason. Note, however, that this event was not mentioned on the official website of the mission.
Recall that Phoenix landed on Mars on May 26 this year. Since then, equipped with all the necessary tools to drill the surface, raise the soil and carry out complex chemical analyzes, the apparatus has carried out (albeit with some problems) the work on the chemical analysis of ice samples at the planet's surface.
So, on Thursday Phoenix touched the surface of Mars with a "fork" - an instrument for measuring the conductivity of the medium. The “fork” has four prongs, each about 1.5 cm long. With this tool, the machine will estimate how fast heat and electric current travel from one tooth to another. By analyzing the data obtained, scientists will be able to obtain information about the presence of frozen or liquid water in the soil of Mars. With the help of the "fork", the probe has already carried out several measurements, according to the results of which scientists were able to estimate the content of water vapor in the atmosphere of Mars. In addition, on the same day, Phoenix performed the first calibration measurements using the built-in atomic force microscope. The size of the samples that can be examined with this device can be about 100 nanometers.
As Vokrug Sveta reported, last week, representatives of NASA and European space agencies announced the exact timing of the program for the delivery of samples of Martian soil to Earth.