Mars lander flexes its robot arm (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

Nasa's Mars lander Phoenix has unstowed its robotic arm - the key tool in its mission to test the red planet's soil for the building blocks of life.

The 2.35m (7.7ft)-long titanium and aluminium extension will dig below the Martian topsoil to the water-ice which is thought to lie just beneath.

The next step will be to test the arm's four joints to be sure it is in working order before digging into the soil.

Phoenix touched down successfully on Mars' northern plains on 25 May (GMT).

Matt Robinson, from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, said: "Yesterday we sent commands... down to the lander to unstow the arm, and today I am ecstatic to let you know that it was successful.


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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7426844.stm