Water found on Mars

**Ynot** · 07-31-2008 03:41 PM

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ph...-20080731.html

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.

"We have water," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. "We've seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted."

With enticing results so far and the spacecraft in good shape, NASA also announced operational funding for the mission will extend through Sept. 30. The original prime mission of three months ends in late August. The mission extension adds five weeks to the 90 days of the prime mission.

"Phoenix is healthy and the projections for solar power look good, so we want to take full advantage of having this resource in one of the most interesting locations on Mars," said Michael Meyer, chief scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The soil sample came from a trench approximately 2 inches deep. When the robotic arm first reached that depth, it hit a hard layer of frozen soil. Two attempts to deliver samples of icy soil on days when fresh material was exposed were foiled when the samples became stuck inside the scoop. Most of the material in Wednesday's sample had been exposed to the air for two days, letting some of the water in the sample vaporize away and making the soil easier to handle.

"Mars is giving us some surprises," said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona. "We're excited because surprises are where discoveries come from. One surprise is how the soil is behaving. The ice-rich layers stick to the scoop when poised in the sun above the deck, different from what we expected from all the Mars simulation testing we've done. That has presented challenges for delivering samples, but we're finding ways to work with it and we're gathering lots of information to help us understand this soil."

Since landing on May 25, Phoenix has been studying soil with a chemistry lab, TEGA, a microscope, a conductivity probe and cameras. Besides confirming the 2002 finding from orbit of water ice near the surface and deciphering the newly observed stickiness, the science team is trying to determine whether the water ice ever thaws enough to be available for biology and if carbon-containing chemicals and other raw materials for life are present.

The mission is examining the sky as well as the ground. A Canadian instrument is using a laser beam to study dust and clouds overhead.

"It's a 30-watt light bulb giving us a laser show on Mars," said Victoria Hipkin of the Canadian Space Agency.

A full-circle, color panorama of Phoenix's surroundings also has been completed by the spacecraft.

"The details and patterns we see in the ground show an ice-dominated terrain as far as the eye can see," said Mark Lemmon of Texas A&M University, lead scientist for Phoenix's Surface Stereo Imager camera. "They help us plan measurements we're making within reach of the robotic arm and interpret those measurements on a wider scale."

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and development partnership at Lockheed Martin in Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus in Denmark; the Max Planck Institute in Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

For more about Phoenix, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix

**cuddleyperson** · 07-31-2008 03:58 PM

tbh they found ice six years ago, what did they think the ice was going to be made of, butter...

OMG ICE!.. 6 years later and a hella lotta money spent... OMG THAT ICE IS MADE OF WATER!!!!!!

**Everlong** · 07-31-2008 04:10 PM

**Ynot** · 07-31-2008 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by cuddleyperson

tbh they found ice six years ago, what did they think the ice was going to be made of, butter...

OMG ICE!.. 6 years later and a hella lotta money spent... OMG THAT ICE IS MADE OF WATER!!!!!!

I thought they found something that *could* have been ice,
but they couldn't tell
(hence the reason for the mars rovers & phoenix lander)

**Oneironaut Zero** · 07-31-2008 05:49 PM

Awesome.

**Taosaur** · 07-31-2008 07:07 PM

Let's dome it up and plant us some okra. If you look at the science fiction, we're way behind schedule.

**skysaw** · 08-01-2008 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by cuddleyperson

tbh they found ice six years ago, what did they think the ice was going to be made of, butter...

OMG ICE!.. 6 years later and a hella lotta money spent... OMG THAT ICE IS MADE OF WATER!!!!!!

Since it seems to have been completely missing from your education, it should be pointed out that ice can be formed by any frozen gas, CO2 being a common form even here on earth (dry ice). In fact, that's what the Martian polar caps are assumed to be predominantly made of.

**Ynot** · 08-01-2008 08:17 AM

there was something else a little while ago, about the soil containing important nutrients and minerals to support vegetation, as well

**skysaw** · 08-01-2008 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by Ynot

there was something else a little while ago, about the soil containing important nutrients and minerals to support vegetation, as well

I know they've found traces of magnesium, sodium and potassium at least.

**Abra** · 08-01-2008 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by Taosaur

Let's dome it up and plant us some okra. If you look at the science fiction, we're way behind schedule.

ilu taosaur. :heart:

**Ynot** · 08-01-2008 09:46 AM

Originally Posted by Taosaur

If you look at the science fiction, we're way behind schedule.

yeah
also, where's my hover car & jetpack !!

**guerilla** · 08-01-2008 10:28 AM

Where's my bottle of martian drinking water?

**Marvo** · 08-01-2008 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by cuddleyperson

tbh they found ice six years ago, what did they think the ice was going to be made of, butter...

OMG ICE!.. 6 years later and a hella lotta money spent... OMG THAT ICE IS MADE OF WATER!!!!!!

Water =/= Ice

They have very different properties.

**CoLd BlooDed** · 08-01-2008 10:33 PM

Yeah, ice is hard.

**•Neko•** · 08-02-2008 08:42 AM

Originally Posted by CoLd BlooDed

Yeah, ice is hard.

Anyway, it's great to hear of water on Mars. If our oceans ever dry up, we could ship water from there to the Earth.

**Ynot** · 08-02-2008 09:04 AM

Originally Posted by •Neko•

Anyway, it's great to hear of water on Mars. If our oceans ever dry up, we could ship water from there to the Earth.

70-80% of earth's oxygen is produced by algae floating on the surface of the sea

so lack of water is the least of your concerns if the oceans dry up

fuck saving the trees
save the algae

**Ynot** · 08-02-2008 09:39 AM

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08...-life-on-mars/

It would appear that the US President has been briefed by Phoenix scientists about the discovery of something more "provocative" than the discovery of water existing on the Martian surface. This news comes just as the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) confirmed experimental evidence for the existence of water in the Mars regolith on Thursday. Whilst NASA scientists are not claiming that life once existed on the Red Planet's surface, new data appears to indicate the "potential for life" more conclusively than the TEGA water results. Apparently these new results are being kept under wraps until further, more detailed analysis can be carried out, but we are assured that this announcement will be huge…

So why is there all this secrecy? According to scientists in communication with Aviation Week & Space Technology, the next big discovery will need to be mulled over for a while before it is announced to the world. In fact, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory science team for the MECA wet-chemistry instrument that made these undisclosed findings were kept out of the July 31st news conference (confirming water) so additional analysis could be carried out, avoiding any questions that may have revealed their preliminary results. They have also made the decision to discuss the results with the Bush Administration's Presidential Science Advisor's office before a press conference between mid-August and early September.

Although good news, Thursday's announcement of the discovery of water on Mars comes as no surprise to mission scientists and some are amused by the media's reaction to the TEGA results. "They have discovered water on Mars for the third or fourth time," one senior Mars scientist joked. These new MECA results are, according to the Phoenix team, a little more complex than the water "discovery." Scientists are keen to point out however, that this secretive news will in no way indicate the existence of life (past or present) on Mars; Phoenix simply is not equipped make this discovery. What it can do is test the Mars soil for compounds suitable to support life. The MECA instrument does have microscopes capable of resolving bacterial-scale life forms however, but this is not the focus of the forthcoming announcement, sources say.

This new MECA discovery, combined with TEGA data will probably expose something more compelling, completing another piece of the puzzle in the search for the correct conditions for life as we know it to survive on Mars. Critical to this search is to understand how the recently confirmed water and Mars regolith behave together under the Phoenix lander in the cold Martian arctic.

The MECA instrument had already made the landmark discovery that Mars "soil" was much like the soil more familiar on Earth. This finding prompted scientists to indicate that the minerals and pH levels in the regolith could support some terrestrial plants, indicating this would be useful for future Mars settlers.

What with the discovery of water, and the discovery that Mars soil is very much like the stuff we find on Earth, it is hard to guess as to what the MECA's second soil test has discovered. What ever it is, it sounds pretty significant, especially as NASA and the University of Arizona are taking extraordinary steps to avoid any more details being leaked to the outside world. I just hope were not getting excited over something benign…

**•Neko•** · 08-02-2008 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by Ynot

70-80% of earth's oxygen is produced by algae floating on the surface of the sea

so lack of water is the least of your concerns if the oceans dry up

fuck saving the trees
save the algae

Don't save the algae, save the kittens!

Kittens produce 98% of the world's cuteness. If all the kittens die, there won't be enough cuteness, and without enough cuteness, we will die.

For humanity's sake, think of the kittens.

**Taosaur** · 08-02-2008 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by Ynot

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08...-life-on-mars/

I bet it's Starbucks coffee.

**cuddleyperson** · 08-02-2008 05:36 PM

see that's what happens when your tired, pissed off and in a sarcastic mood....

Lol yeah i know ice can be made from other stuff bar water. Like fun dry ice, sorry about looking stupid...

**starfire** · 08-06-2008 04:52 PM

Originally Posted by Ynot

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ph...-20080731.html

wait, people actually still believe what nasa says?

**•Neko•** · 08-07-2008 06:21 AM

Originally Posted by starfire

wait, people actually still believe what nasa says?

Yes... why shouldn't we?

**Taosaur** · 08-07-2008 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by •Neko•

Yes... why shouldn't we?

cuz they made my day a pain in the ass today, and I probably won't see a dime for it.

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