This image shows soil delivery to NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's
Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA).
The image was taken by the lander's Surface Stereo Imager on the
131st Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Oct. 7, 2008). At the
bottom of the image is the chute for delivering samples to
MECA's microscopes. It is relatively clean due to the Phoenix
team using methods such as sprinkling to minimize cross-
contamination of samples. However, the cumulative effect of
several sample deliveries can be seen in the soil piles on
either side of the chute. On the right side are the four
chemistry cells with soil residue piled up on exposed surfaces.
The farthest cell has a large pile of material from an area of
the Phoenix workspace called "Stone Soup." This area is deep in
the trough at a polygon boundary, and its soil was so sticky it
wouldn't even go through the funnel. One of Phoenix's solar
panels is shown in the background of this image. The Phoenix
Mission is led by the University of Ari