Mars Lander Retrieves Soil Sample
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mars Lander Retrieves Soil Sample
NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
”The dirt is very clumpy and it’s got a lot of cohesion to it, so it’s difficult to pass through the small screen we have (over the ovens),” Boynton told reporters at a briefing. ”We don’t completely understand why the soil is so cohesive and tends to stick together.”The scientists have been mixing various Earth soils in labs back home in an effort to duplicate the Mars dirt, but say they have been unable to match its consistency.
(credit: NY Times - science news)