Phoenix - Mars landing preview webcast

[ahecht]

Originally Posted by David Brinza

Keep in mind that Phoenix is a lander, it can't drive around to explore different geologic features. It will, however, be able to dig progressively deeper into the Mars soil to search for water ice and other chemicals in the soil. If organic compounds are detected, this would be a major discovery regarding the habitability of Mars.

Well, that's true for the most part. There was some talk that, depending on the hardness and smoothness of the landing surface, the lander might be able to drag itself along the ground with the robot arm. However this would likely not be an intentional maneuver.