The Phoenix Mars lander has again failed to analyze the soil sample it scooped Friday. Although Phoenix Mars Lander’s robotic arm managed to release a soil sample onto the screen of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA), the device failed to confirm the processing of the sample. It appears that no bits from the 12 cubic inches of Martian soil managed to pass through a special screen into the TEGA.

Shaking the TEGA did help a bit, but too few particles passed through the oven opening which only allows particles which are less than 1mm in diameter to pass through. NASA's scientists said that between 20 and 30 milligrams of soil are necessary for performing the analysis, but less than one milligram of matter passed through the screen and into the oven.

Scientists will try to overcome the unexpected obstacle by pouring the soil and scooping a smaller quantity. On the first try, the sample was just laying on the screen due to the soil's unexpected clumpiness, and nothing passed further into the oven. This is good news also, as the unexpected consistence of the soil may be due to the presence of water in Mars' soil.

William Boynton, the lead scientist for the TEGA instrument, said yesterday that there is no need to worry about the failures to analyze soil so far, as the team has at least another week or two to figure out a way to perform the task.

Phoenix is the sixth successful landing on Mars, out of twelve total international attempts, and was built by Lockheed Martin with additions from several partners. Most notably, the Canadian Space Agency provided a high-tech meteorological station, including an innovative Laser-based atmospheric sensor; and Alliance Spacesystems, LLC built the robotic arm. Phoenix was launched on August 4 last year.