After a few days of fiddling, a soil sample was delivered to the oven of the Phoenix Mars Lander. Over the next several days, the oven will be heated and chemical analysis of the soil will be carried out.
The robot arm of the Lander delivered the sample to the the screen above the oven a few days ago, but the soil proved to be clumpier than scientists imagined, and none of the sample fell through the screen. Several sessions of vibrating the screen seem to have finally loosened up the sample enough so that some of it fell through the screen and into the oven.
Phoenix is ultimately searching for evidence of life on Mars. If it finds such evidence and plops it down smack in the middle of the U. S. presidential campaign, it'll be interesting to see the effect that has on U. S. space policy.
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