digging in a different trench phoenix ' s robot fingers connected with a softer surface that has scientists curious about the anticipation of next exposing an antarctic layer . " we have dug a trench and identified a hard area at the same depths as the ice layer in our other trench , " said washington student mechanical arm investigator for phoenix , ray arvidson . the arm tried at nearly three times to infiltrate the thickness , but was unsuccessful . as a result the arm went into a holding pattern , contemplating its next task .
A robotic arm has been used for scientific discoveries.