The robotic arm was designed to extend 2.35 m from its base on the lander, and had the ability to dig down to 0.5 m below sandy surface.
It took samples of dirt and ice that were analyzed by other instruments on the lander.
The arm was designed and built for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory by Alliance Spacesystems, LLC (now MDA US Systems, LLC) in Pasadena, California.
A rotating rasp-tool located in the heel of the scoop was used to cut into the strong permafrost.
Cuttings from the rasp were ejected into the heel of the scoop and transferred to the front for delivery to the instruments.
The rasp tool was conceived of at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The flight version of the rasp was designed and built by HoneyBee Robotics.
Commands were sent for the arm to be deployed on May 28, 2008, beginning with the pushing aside of a protective covering intended to serve as a redundant precaution against potential contamination of Martian soil by Earthly life-forms.

The Robotic Arm Camera (RAC) attached to the robotic arm just above the scoop was able to take full-color pictures of the area, as well as verify the samples that the scoop returned, and examined the grains of the area where the robotic arm had just dug.
The camera was made by the University of Arizona and Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany.
The robotic arm was designed to extend 2.35 m from its base on the lander, and had the ability to dig down to 0.5 m below sandy surface. It took samples of dirt and ice that were analyzed by other instruments on the lander. The arm was designed and built for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory by Alliance Spacesystems, LLC (now MDA US Systems, LLC) in Pasadena, California. A rotating rasp-tool located in the heel of the scoop was used to cut into the strong permafrost. Cuttings from the rasp were ejected into the heel of the scoop and transferred to the front for delivery to the instruments. The rasp tool was conceived of at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The flight version of the rasp was designed and built by HoneyBee Robotics. Commands were sent for the arm to be deployed on May 28, 2008, beginning with the pushing aside of a protective covering intended to serve as a redundant precaution against potential contamination of Martian soil by Earthly life-forms.
The Robotic Arm Camera (RAC) attached to the robotic arm just above the scoop was able to take full-color pictures of the area, as well as verify the samples that the scoop returned, and examined the grains of the area where the robotic arm had just dug. The camera was made by the University of Arizona and Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany.
Phoenix (spacecraft)