It's Snowing on Mars

Phoenix's string of remarkable finds keeps coming

By Laurie J. Schmidt Posted 10.01.2008 at 9:22 am 13 Comments

The Dodo-Goldilocks trench dug by the Phoenix lander's robotic arm NASA

In a Mars exploration milestone, a laser remote sensing instrument on the Phoenix Mars lander has detected snow falling on the red planet. Data from the light detection and ranging (lidar) instrument—designed to gather information about interactions between the Martian atmosphere and ground surface—showed the snow falling from clouds about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) above the spacecraft's landing site.

"Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars," said Jim Whiteway, a space engineering professor at York University, Toronto, and lead scientist for the Canadian-designed laser on Phoenix. "We'll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground."

Currently data show the snow vaporizing before it reached the ground, but the finding is significant, as it shows that the Martian atmosphere is a transport mechanism for water-ice and vapor, according to the mission's principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona.

In addition, Martian soil samples taken during recent Phoenix experiments show the presence of calcium carbonate (the main ingredient of chalk), and particles that could be clay. On Earth, most carbonates and clays form only in the presence of liquid water. The samples were taken from trenches dug by the lander's robotic arm and were analyzed by two laboratory instruments—the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) and the wet chemistry laboratory of the Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA).

After a nine-month cruise from Earth, the Phoenix mission executed a near-perfect landing on the surface of Mars on May 25, 2008. Just weeks later, the mission confirmed the presence of water ice in a subsurface layer near its landing site in Mars's northern arctic plains. Determining whether that ice ever thaws could help answer the question of whether the environment there has ever been favorable for life.

Originally planned as a three-month mission, Phoenix is now in its fifth month. But with Martian winter approaching, it now faces a decline in solar energy that will bring the lander's activities to a halt before the end of the year. "For nearly three months after landing, the sun never went below the horizon at our landing site," said Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). "Now it is gone for more than four hours each night, and the output from our solar panels is dropping each week. Before the end of October, there won't be enough energy to keep using the robotic arm."

[Via Phoenix Mission news release]

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13 Comments

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Everyday Normal Kid

10/04/08 at 10:32 pm

they should really stop looking at mars and should star looking at....... what's that moon.....Europa. they have a better chance of finding life there.

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highdobb

10/04/08 at 11:56 pm

Everyday Normal Kid: Never ask a scientist to drop everything and lay their magnifying glass down. It's a slap in the face. What should be everyday and normal, kid, is encouraging them to discover and learn all they can wherever they go. When you say "shift focus," I say "widen focus." We should be researching both Europa & Mars, for the expanding knowledge of us all. GO PHOENIX!

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Everyday Normal Kid

10/05/08 at 9:34 am

Ty for that speech......

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Chipper Smoltz

10/06/08 at 12:12 am

Europa is one of the moons of Jupiter, am I right? That seems to be very far from our "home base" of Earth. And if there's any evidence of sentient life out there then they would have responded from "SETI broadcasts". However, it seems that there is no response yet... or are we being kept "in the dark" here. The Sun won't be as bright as it is in Europa compared to Earth or Mars.

And one more thing... regarding the "SETI Broadcasts" they use an EMF frequency or radio waves right? What if there happened to be intelligent life but they do not use EMF or radio-waves? I believe EMF or radio waves will not be able to penetrate water...

Like for example, intelligent water based life similar to dolphins or whales but not as primitive? Sorry, just one of my "weird" ideas.

Will we terraform Mars soon? Just baby steps - "acre by acre".... and soon.... hopefully

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Everyday Normal Kid

10/06/08 at 6:22 am

We are just spending time on mars because we are "scared" to venture farther and to take chances with our money.

But i agree with u Chipper, baby steps. Have you seen Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy? That dolphins are the second smartest creature on earth and mice r the smartest. Just a thought.

But anyway I think we should fix the problems on our own planet before we start new ones that we cant control.

Just idea's.....

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Chipper Smoltz

10/07/08 at 12:59 am

Hey Kid,

I don't think our exploration of other planets, most especially Mars... is a problem. You don't see it but inspite of all the problems we have here on Earth, we are "bound" by certain goals that "unifies" us inspite of our differences.

Space exploration is one of these, some people might see it as a race to see which country would be the first to achieve such. But as Armstrong once said... "It's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

It's us, humans - homo sapiens, space is the final frontier now. And when the time comes that we have sufficient technology to "extend" our reach to other planets then it will be so great and so grand that the stuff that we read and only see in movies would finally be "reality".

Have a great day Kid, and thanks for the comments. Have a great day to all.

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Everyday Normal Kid

10/07/08 at 3:36 pm

Its Just like Smith said in the matrix movie, "we are like a disease to this planet, we feed off it and move on"......i think thats how it went.......watever u get the point.

Its true.

-THE KID

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neos172

10/08/08 at 9:25 pm

i agree with normal kid we are currently in dept and we need to fix our economy problems before we start spending billions of dollars in trying to find life on mars and exploring space

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garychencool

10/09/08 at 8:24 pm

Did you know?
The weather sencing device was from Canada?
Well, it's true! The Phoeix Lander had that weather sensing insturment when it was close close to Mars.
If you people think that does't Canada have a space program?
Yes! It's called the Canadian Space Agency ( I think) and they put the insturment on a American Spaceship.

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Everyday Normal Kid

10/09/08 at 9:08 pm

If i could live on either mars or venus id choose venus.

All we would have to do is blow out the clouds just like in a book i read and it might cool down.

The atmosphere is way to thin on mars and i dont think we would find any valuable materials on that planet that we use today.

-THE KID

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Kickstand27

03/02/09 at 5:38 pm

Chipper, what does not getting anyting back from SETI transmissions prove as far as sentiant life goes? you make the jump to sentient waterbound life forms like dolphins, but forget that a mere 100 years ago, we ddint even have radios. were we sentient then?

I belive Mars is a good place to start, even if we plan on expanding our scope to europa, or other such places. It is a viable base where we can produce fuel and set up colonies as a halfway point on the road to further solar system exploration.

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Kickstand27

03/02/09 at 5:39 pm

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garychencool

08/15/09 at 11:16 pm

They are still looking at Mars because that's the closest "Planet" Everything else is way too far! For the moon,they're mostly done. There is no life on the Moon. It would'nt make a good Earth alternative! Mars is far and cold and so on.