Snow White 5 Trench

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Caption:

This image was acquired by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Robotic Arm Camera on the 35th Martian day of the mission, or Sol 34 (June 29, 2008), after the May 25, 2008, landing. This image shows the trench informally called "Snow White 5." The trench is 4-to-5 centimeters (about 1.5-to-1.9 inches) deep, 24 centimeters (about 9 inches) wide and 33 centimeters (13 inches) long.

Snow White 5 is Phoenix's current active digging area after additional trenching, grooming, and scraping by Phoenix's Robotic Arm in the last few sols to trenches informally called Snow White 1, 2, 3, and 4. Near the top center of the image is the Robotic Arm's Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe.

Snow White 5 is located in a patch of Martian soil near the center of a polygonal surface feature, nicknamed "Cheshire Cat." The digging site has been named "Wonderland."

This image has been enhanced to brighten shaded areas.

Background Info:

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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