The Icy Soil Acquisition Device (ISAD), sometimes called the Phoenix Scoop, is both a soil scoop and a precision ice-sampling tool integrated on the end of the robotic arm of the Phoenix lander. The ISAD scoop was used to dig into the surface surrounding the lander and acquire icy soil samples. These samples were then delivered to science instruments for examination.
- Rapid development. Honeybee designed, built and tested the ISAD in only 14 months, after the mission’s science payload team determined that they needed to improve upon the method of gathering samples from the strongest icy soil targets anticipated at the landing site.
- Hardware backed by experimentation. Honeybee has the facilities and expertise for preparing and testing Mars soil simulants. We conducted extensive testing under simulated Mars temperature and pressure to ensure that ice and soil samples would make it to the science instruments.