Martian soil 'Could support life'

**Dreamhope11** · 06-28-2008 04:49 PM

Just if anyone is interested
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Martian soil appears to contain sufficient nutrients to support life - or, at
least, asparagus - Nasa scientists believe.

Preliminary analysis by the $420m (£210m) Phoenix Mars Lander mission on the planet's soil found it to be much more alkaline than expected.

Scientists working on the spacecraft project said they were "flabbergasted" by the discovery.

The find has raised hopes conditions on Mars may be favourable for life.

"We basically have found what appears to be the requirements, the nutrients, to support life, whether past, present or future," said Sam Kounaves, the project's lead chemist, from the University of Arizona.

Exciting data

Although he said further tests would have to be conducted, Mr Kounaves said the soil seemed "very friendly… there is nothing about it that is toxic," he said.

We were all flabbergasted at the data we got back

Sam Kounaves
University of Arizona

"It is the type of soil you would probably have in your back yard - you know, alkaline. You might be able to grow asparagus in it really well."

As well as being far less acidic than anticipated, the soil was also found to contain traces of magnesium, sodium, potassium and other elements.

"We were all flabbergasted at the data we got back," said Mr Kounaves. "It is very exciting for us."

The analysis is based on a cubic centimetre of soil scooped from 2.5cm (one inch) below Mars' surface by the lander's robotic arm.

The sample was then tested using the "wet chemistry" technique, which involves mixing the soil with water brought from Earth and heating the sample in one of the lander's eight ovens.

Ice stores

After a 10-month flight from Earth, Phoenix touched down successfully on Mars' northern plains on 25 May, to undertake a three-month study of the planet's geological history.

Phoenix is undertaking a three-month study of Mars' geological history

The Arctic location where Phoenix touched down is thought to hold large stores of water-ice just below the surface.

Last week, scientists said they were positive there was ice on the planet after eight dice-sized chunks were seen melting away in a series of photographs.

**adam has a dream** · 06-28-2008 05:07 PM

Sensual. This stuff excites me too.

I love how they simplify certain analytical techniques to 'wet chemistry'. "Just add water! and then whack it in the oven, see what we get".

ahh laymen's terms.

**Oneironaut Zero** · 06-28-2008 10:33 PM

Awesome news.

**ChrissyMaria** · 06-30-2008 08:16 PM

cool, so when were done destroying this planet, we'll move onto the next

j/k, cool discovery, now the next mars lander mission must be called:

Operation Asparagus

The lander drops, plants the seeds and waters using the ice on mars

**skysaw** · 06-30-2008 08:29 PM

Carl Sagan once put forth a fantastic idea for terraforming Mars on his Cosmos program. I'm not sure if it was his original idea or not, but it stuck with me over the years. Now with this news, it seems even more viable.

Basically it goes like this. We already know how to genetically modify plants to enhance certain traits. What we first need, is a plant with these characteristics:

1. Relies as little as possible on atmospheric gasses that will not be present, and instead draws as much as it can from soil makeup and sunlight
2. Can survive in extreme cold
3. Is dark in color
4. Likes to spread

Most likely, none of this is very difficult for us to design.

Next we send up a mission to plant a lot of this over the ice-cap area. The dark color is important as it will not reflect back the sun's energy, instead using it to warm the surface. As more and more of the surface area of the ice caps is covered, more and more sunlight is retained, melting the caps to useful liquid water, further enriching the soil, and carrying streams outward to other parts of the planet.

As the planet warms and liquid water becomes more abundant, other types of plants will be able to survive, including those engineered for other jobs in terraforming, such as high oxygen producers.

It could take several hundred years before we even started seeing anything approaching a real atmosphere, but eventually we could transform the planet into a human-friendly environment.

Just something fun to ponder.

**ChrissyMaria** · 06-30-2008 08:32 PM

Yea, its too bad we won't be around to see it, well actually.......

This morning on the science channel this genetic engineer estimated that in 20 years we will be able to completely stop aging in its tracks and stop age related death.

So if this happens, we might see a green mars one day?

**Forsaken** · 07-01-2008 03:07 PM

The atmospheric pressure is too low on mars for water to exist in liquid form. The ice, when dug up, sublimates directly to gas. The only way you're going to grow stuff on mars is to do it inside pressurized greenhouses. Martian atmosphere is 100 times lower pressure than earth's - it's barely more than a vacuum.

**skysaw** · 07-01-2008 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by Forsaken

The atmospheric pressure is too low on mars for water to exist in liquid form. The ice, when dug up, sublimates directly to gas. The only way you're going to grow stuff on mars is to do it inside pressurized greenhouses. Martian atmosphere is 100 times lower pressure than earth's - it's barely more than a vacuum.

This is absolutely true. However, I was speaking about genetically engineered flora, and I don't believe it necessarily has to be an unsurmountable obstacle (and neither did Sagan).

We have examples of life on Earth living under very extreme conditions, and a lot can be learned from these. It's not unreasonable to think that very low atmosphere growth is an attainable genetic engineering target.

**ChrissyMaria** · 07-01-2008 05:00 PM

How about we engineer plants that survive in extreme cold and extremely low pressure? there are plants at the bottom of the sea which withstand extreme high pressure, I'm certain life can find a way to survive low pressure, life ALWAYS finds a way to survive and thrive and spread.