Earlier this week the Mars Phoenix rover made an astounding discovery. It was finally able to confirm the presence of water ice. The find in and of itself marks the first time that water has been confirmed for certain on any heavenly body other than our own azure sphere.
The Phoenix rover uncovered ice crystals and after NASA officials discovered that the crystals had sublimated in a matter of a few days, they decided to run more detailed tests on them — mainly to try melting the ice.
The University of Arizona also put up a good piece on their involvement with the project.
This means that there could, potentially, be organisms in that water if it can stay in liquid form long enough… really that’s the biggest barrier to life on Mars, the water ice sublimates so quickly in the direct heat of Martian daylight that organisms don’t have much chance to develop.
NASA’s official Mars Phoenix mission website has even stated that the mission will be extended by about a month due to the discovery. It’s now slated to complete at the end of September.
The news is indeed exciting. It wasn’t a complete surprise to find the ice on Mars as there had been previous evidence from satellite flybys of the Martian arctic. Space.com has a more complete article on this story including quotes from officials involved in the project.
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