Phoenix Student Intern ProgramFrom Medford, Massachusetts & Belmont, New Hampshire

The MA TeamTeacher: Michael WadnessStudents:Ngawang Choney & Terence Tran

The NH TeamTeacher: Tom MorinStudents: Ben Winchell & Tim Gurshin

Mentors from Tufts University:Dr. Suzanne Young & Dr. Sam Kounaves

Our work at Tufts University

Scratching the Electrodes

Dr. Suzanne Young scratched some of the electrodes after the experiment to test the effect that the abrasion would have on the voltage readings taken in various solutions.

This is the final result.

Context Image Sorting

• Unsorted data acquired by Phoenix • Scientists require specific pictures and data • Downloading and organizing• Categorized sols 24-41• Picking and choosing the best RAC/SSI images• Discovered ability to download .zip files of

images

Downloading pictures for research

Sorting data on Analyst’s Notebook

Field Work at Sabino Canyon

• Hiked the mountains with Sam, Trish, Rachel, and Shannon, his graduate students.

• Retrieved soil samples from five different elevations and locations.

• Looking for nutrients and pH levels• Desert soil believed to be similar to Martian

soil

Back at the SOC

• Samples tested for pH, nitrogen, etc. using a farmer’s agricultural kit

• Used the strips to analyze Mg, Ca, K, Cl, and Br amounts in the soil samples

• Performed experiments in the MECA lab

Samples 5 6 4 1 2 3

Elevation Lowest Lowest Low Mid High Highest

pH 6 6 6.5 8 6.5 8

Nitrogen A A A A A A

Phosphorus C C C C D D

Potassium C C C C C D

Total Hardness

ppm

0 0 1000 250 250 750

Total Chlorine

0.5 0 0 3 0.5 10

Total Bromine

1 0 0 5 1 20

Free Chlorine

0.5 0.5 0 2 0.5 2

Total Alkalinity

40 40 40 40 20 80

pH 6.2 6.8 6.2 6.2 6.2 7.8

Cyanuric Acid

0 0 0 0 0 0

Results

• Very small amounts of Nitrogen found in all the samples (not frozen)

• High amounts of Potassium and Phosphorus • pH ranges from 6-8, in the scale of suitable

growth • elevation did not follow a set pattern• Washout area

Public Outreach Tour

1. Making Balloon Phoenix Landers

2. Supervising the Mars Mission Engineering

3. Creating personal Phoenix Logos

Exploring the “Pit”

Recap…

• Ammonia’s contamination?• Electrode abrasion effects• MECA Context Image• Desert Soil Analogous to Mars Soil• Future Mission Proposals

Future Mission Proposals

• “Follow the Water”

• Rover to follow river deltas and washouts

• Rover to explore different elevations on Mars

• Rover to Olympus Mons caldera- igneous samples

Many Thanks to…

• All the Phoenix scientists & researchers

• Carla Bitter

• University of Arizona for letting us use their facilities

• The Tufts Lab assistants: Jason, Kalina, and Po.

Special Thanks

The Wonderful Cassie Bowman, who organized our whole trip.

Special Thanks

Tom Morin Mike Wadness

Special Thanks

Rachel, Trish, & Shannon

Our mentors:

Dr. Suzanne Young

Dr. Sam Kounaves