NASA scientists convinced Mars has ice!

William Atkins
Friday, 20 June 2008 18:49

Science - Space

The Phoenix Mars Lander photographed tiny pieces of bright, white material inside a dug out trench, and four days later they disappeared. Scientists say salt can’t evaporate but ice can when exposed to Martian atmosphere, making for great evidence for finding water on Mars.

The principal investigator to the mission, Peter Smith (University of Arizona) states, “It must be ice. These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice. There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can't do that." [University of Arizona: "Bright Chunks At Phoenix Lander’s Mars Site Must Have Been Ice”]

The particles were at the bottom of a trench that had been previously dug out by the robotic arm and scoop of Phoenix. Informally called “Dodo-Goldilocks,” the trench had been formed by the actions of the Lander on June 15, 2008 (Sol 20, the twentieth Martian day since Phoenix had landed).

However, when the Lander looked at the trench four days later (June 18, Sol 24), the white pieces were gone.

Added to this bit of information, mission scientists also believe the Phoenix’s robotic arm came into contact with an ice layer at a different location in which it is digging a trench. The arm hit the hard layer, and after three tries stopped trying to dig. Such an action has been programmed into Phoenix so that it stops digging whenever it hits a firm layer, such as ice.

The new trench, dubbed, “Snow White 2,” is located to the right of “Snow White 1.” Both Snow White 1 and 2 are within the “Wonderland” site.

Robotic arm co-investigator Ray Aravidson (Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri) states, "We have dug a trench and uncovered a hard layer at the same depth as the ice layer in our other trench." [University of Arizona]

Additional information on the flash memory problem and the latest set of images from Phoenix follow on the next page.