NASA’s Phoenix Lander Finds Water on Mars for First Time
NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander has found water on the Martian surface, in the form of ice, after just 62 days on the Red Planet. The find is the first confirmed evidence that water exists on the planet, meaning we now know it is technically possible for life as we know it to have existed there in the past or to exist there now. The sample was collected from the Martian soil by the lander’s robotic arm, then heated in its Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA), which identifies the chemical signature of vapors.
The Mars Odyssey orbiter had previously detected what was considered hard evidence of the presence of water ice on Mars, but there had never been direct physical contact and confirmation. The Phoenix project’s lead scientist, William Boynton, said this was the first time Martian water was “touched and tasted”.
Some believe the presence of water suggests the possibility of “terraforming” projects, in which Earth-like colonies could be created to support human life on the otherwise inhospitable planet, whose characteristic red soil is extremely iron-rich. But atmospheric composition is far from adequate for supporting an Earth-like environment. The Mars Phoenix Lander is also on Twitter, where updates are provided regarding the nature of its mission and some of the images coming back.
The Mars Phoenix Lander is not a rover and so will not be exploring the terrain around the site where it has located water. But since its mission has been more productive than expected, NASA has announced it will extend the mission by up to 90 days, in which time, Phoenix may be able to dig two new trenches and take additional samples. The lander will also analyze in its onboard laboratories the content of soil and ice samples to determine whether there is organic material there, either living or in fossil form.
J.E. Robertson @ August 1, 2008