Martini and Ice
June 22nd 2008 07:22
Images provided by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager on Sunday, June 15, left, and Wednesday, June 18, 2008, right, or Sols 20 and 24, shows sublimation of ice in the trench called "Dodo-Goldilocks
The discovery of what appears to be ice near Mars' North Pole has scientists rekindling the idea that great quantities of water did exist on mars and at some point the frozen water melted during the planet's long history could this have created an environment suitable to support some life?
The Phoenix spacecraft exposed bright white patches at the bottom of a trench while digging near Mars' North Pole earlier this week. The white patches disappeared in new photos sent back on Thursday, convincing scientists that the magic act was evidence of ice had evaporated after being exposed to the sunlight. The white patches contained white lumps that could have been stone or salt mixed in with ice patches.
"The fact that there's ice there doesn't tell you anything about whether it's habitable," chief scientist Peter Smith of the University of Arizona said Friday during a teleconference from Tucson.
To judge whether the Martian polar environment could be hospitable, scientists are using the spacecraft's instruments to study minerals in the soil and ice hoping to find traces of carbonates and sulfates, which are formed by the action of liquid water.
Preliminary results from an experiment that baked a soil sample in one of Phoenix's test ovens failed to yield evidence of water. A data glitch on the lander this week prevented scientists from getting the results right away from the last testing phase.
Water is a prerequisite for life, but it's just one piece of the puzzle. Scientists generally agree that organic carbon and an energy source like the sun are also considered necessary ingredients.
Mars today is arid and dusty, constantly bombarded by radiation and with no apparent trace of water on its surface. But carvings of channels and gullies on the Martian surface suggest a watery past. Some scientists speculate that water on Mars may have evaporated into the atmosphere and the rest trapped beneath the surface in the form of ice.
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