Conductivity Probe after Trench-Bottom Placement

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute, Posted on: Saturday, 23 August 2008, 07:49 CDT Download full size image

Needles of the thermal and conductivity probe on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander were positioned into the bottom of a trench called "Upper Cupboard" during Sol 86 (Aug. 21, 2008), or 86th Martian day after landing. This image of the conductivity probe after it was raised back out of the trench was taken by Phoenix's Robotic Arm Camera. The conductivity probe is at the wrist of the robotic arm's scoop.

The probe measures how fast heat and electricity move from one needle to an adjacent one through the soil or air between the needles. Conductivity readings can be indicators about water vapor, water ice and liquid water.

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