NASA Phoenix Mars Lander Puts Arm and Other Tools to Work May
29, 2008 TUCSON, Ariz. - NASA's Mars lander is returning more
detailed images from the Martian surface and is now preparing
its instruments for science operations. Phoenix transmitted a
360-degree panorama of its frigid Martian world, freed its
nearly 8-foot robotic arm, tested a laser instrument for
studying dust and clouds, and transmitted its second weather
report on Wednesday evening. "We've imaged the entire landing
site, all 360 degrees of it. We see it all," said Phoenix
principal investigator Peter Smith, University of Arizona,
Tucson. "You can see the lander in a fish-eye view that goes all
the way out to the entire horizon "We are now making plans for
where to dig first, and what we'll save for later." Commands
were communicated to Phoenix to rotate the robotic arm's wrist
to unlatch its launch lock, raise the forearm and move it
upright to release the elbow restraint. "We're pleased that we
successfully unstowed the robotic arm. In fact,