Let the real digging begin.
Phoenix Mars Lander mission scientists have instructed its robotic arm to collect its first experimental sample. Wednesday the arm is expected to scoop up just a few pinches of Martian soil from a spot called Baby Bear, but scientists won’t know if the procedure worked until Thursday.
Once the arm completes the scoop, mission specialists will wait at least two days before telling the arm to dump the soil into TEGA, the instrument that will analyze the sample.