LOGO: Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines. A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.Best Political Blog Winner, 2007 Webby Awards, People's Voice and Jury.   Holiday Scheer! Exclusive Truthdig Gifts for the Holidays
 
December 1, 2008
Log in / Register

 Choose a size
Text Size

Most Read

Afghanistan in Crisis

Report: WMD Terror Attack Likely

Confronting the Terrorist Within

Bush’s 11th-Hour Bid for Secrecy

They’re Here, They’re Queer, and They’re … Well-Organized

Most Comments
Most Emailed

Reports

Ear to the Ground

A/V Booth

Arts & Culture

Digs
Financial Meltdown 101
Vetting Sarah Palin

Truthdig Bazaar
They Knew They Were Right

They Knew They Were Right

By Jacob Heilbrunn
$17.16

Motherhood Manifesto

Motherhood Manifesto

By Joan Blades and Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner
$8.97

more items

 
Ear to the Ground

Water on Mars

Email this item Email    Print this item Print   
Posted on Jul 31, 2008
Mars
NASA / JPL-Caltech/University Arizona/Texas A&M University

The view from Phoenix: A panoramic tapestry of a Martian arctic plain, stitched together from 400 images taken over weeks by NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander. Click here to enlarge.

For the first time, NASA has captured and is analyzing a sample of actual Martian water, which was collected by the Phoenix lander. It will take some weeks to fully process the data and determine whether the Red Planet could ever have supported life, but it’s a promising development for scientists and space nuts alike.

BBC:

“We’ve seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted,” William Boynton, lead scientist on the mission, said.

Phoenix collected some ice samples last week but was unable to transfer them from the mechanical scoop to the onboard oven for heating and testing.

A dry soil sample was taken instead but the scientists found some ice had been collected too and tests were being conducted on it.

Read more

Email Newsletter

Get truth delivered to your inbox every week.

Previous item: World Bank: Biofuel Boom Spiking Food Prices

Next item: WSJ: Is Obama Too Fit for the White House?

Jump to Comments

Advertisement


Elsewhere: .

Comments

Are you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig.

By Custom Window Treatments, August 4 at 4:43 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

It’s good that the question has finally been answered. However, it’s not all that simple. They’ve also found an oxidizing substance that they say is “detrimental” to us. We’ve got a long way to go before we can actually see a benefit in the red planet.

Report this

By hippy pam, August 2 at 5:38 am #

OOOOHHHhhhhh-water on MARS-Well,we sure are FU*KING stuff up here and when it gets to bad...WE MAYBE CAN GO FU*K IT UP ON MARS......and so on...and so on...if we SURVIVE LONG ENOUGH ON THIS POOR MOTHER EARTH!!!!

Report this

By GW=MCHammered, August 1 at 7:02 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Benefits of the Space Program

http://techtran.msfc.nasa.gov/at_home.html

http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html

Report this

By Expat, August 1 at 6:27 am #

Normally this would excite me beyond all measure:  But given our “current state of affairs”; this becomes a petty distraction.  I would liken this to Nero fiddling while Rome burns.  Can we get our Earthly affairs in order before we consider exporting our psychoses to other planets?

Report this

By shemp333, August 1 at 3:05 am #

So any guess as to what the analysis will show?  I would guess that it will be the same as water from Earth… I don’t understand how analyzing the water can tell you if Mars ever supported life… What would have to be in the water to verify life?  I’m just trying to understand this… This is very exciting and for sure is not in any way a waste of money… Pure science… and this is, of course, the first time we got water from another world.  That is so exciting!

Report this

By Spike, August 1 at 2:29 am #

Who cares?  This is an enormous waste of money.  How about spending a bit to stop the poisoning of the water right here?

Report this

By Outraged, August 1 at 1:52 am #

If this accurate… Uh, oh...we just sent the world spinning on it’s assxis (axis).  Imagine...the possibilities… It’s mind boggling.  How cool would this be.  Wow...this is almost, M-theory stuff.  This is seriously, “out-there” (pun intended, please...find that humorous...lighten up).  Stephen Hawkins...I beseech you...help me out here.  Someone....anyone..., explain the magnitude of a discovery like this, if indeed it is what they think it is.  Unreal.

Report this

By GW=MCHammered, July 31 at 7:40 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I wondered how far one had to travel to escape the longest election hype in American history ... Mars, eh? Totally diggin’ it, NASA. Thanks for the break and the break through. H2O right next door. Imagine the possibilities then. Water, maybe the potential for life almost everywhere. I’ll tip my glass of water now in hopes that some of that life is truly intelligent. And that they bring us some soon.

Report this

By txrebel, July 31 at 4:46 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Our scientist (God bless ‘em), spurred on by our liberal media, are working very hard to try and find some form of life on another planet. The press then can say, “God did not create life, it’s a natural occurrence.” What the people in the press, who do not know their Bible, do not realize is, if a life form is found, it may help prove there is a God.
In the first chapter of the Bible it says “God created the heavens and earth.” Anyway, if life is found on Mars, whose to say it did not come from earth?  Maybe it would be a good thing if they did find a poor little frozen microbe, then the press would be happy and the scientist could stop looking.

Report this

Add Your Comment

Posts by unregistered readers are moderated. Posts by members
are published immediately. Why wait? Register today!






Notify you when others comment on this article?


Are you a human?
Retype the word you see here.


Please read and abide by our comment policy.
By submitting this comment, you agree to this site's terms and conditions.

Newsletter

Get Truthdig in your inbox

Privacy Policy

 
Click here to advertise with Truthdig
 

 
Join the Liberal Blog Advertising Network
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
Copyright © 2008 Truthdig, L.L.C. All rights reserved.