QUESTION:
What does Martian soil feel like?

ANSWER from Ted Roush on January 31, 1997:
Based on a variety of measurements, both from remote observations and 
made on the martian surface, it is believed that the soils range from 
very fine, for example clays or silts, to relatively coarse, for 
example sand sized, particles.  While the atmosphere on Mars is at a 
lower pressure and of a different composition than the Earths', there 
is no reason to believe that these contitions would result in any 
strange properties associated with the surface soils.  This means 
that martian soils would probably not feel much different than the 
soils on Earth.  The finest grain soils would feel similar to baby 
powder while the sand sized particles would probably feel similar to 
sand on the Earth.