Phoenix scientists soon will analyze Martian ice

Fri Jul 4, 2:28 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Scientists with the US Phoenix lander will make their first analysis of Martian ice fragments in coming days but it could be the last done in one of the probe's small ovens, NASA said on its website Friday.

A team of engineers and scientists were trying to get to the bottom of what caused a short-circuit on the TEGA (Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer) which has four small ovens able to heat samples of Martian soil up to 1,000 degrees Celsius.

"Since there is no way to assess the probability of another short circuit occurring, we are taking the most conservative approach and treating the next sample to TEGA as possibly our last," said the University of Arixona's Peter Smith, Phoenix's principal investigator and top mission scientific official.

TEGA is vital to determining whether Martian ice contains organic or carbon-based compounds which would be essential for life on Mars.

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