Mars, Phoenix, Mars Phoenix, Phoenix lander, Mars lander, NASA, JPL, Martian soil, Thermal Evolved-Gas Analyzer, University of Arizona

The lander’s nearly 8-foot-long robotic arm dumped a cup full of clumpy soil atop oven No. 4 — but none of the particles fell through the guard screen into the oven, whose opening is about the thickness of a pencil lead. The clumpiness could be caused by any of several factors, including the presence of water. NASA released this photo today.

June 9, 2008