Water on Mars
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.
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.
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“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.
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After traveling for more than 10 years and further than 6.4 billion kilometers, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft has arrived at its destination.
Our ability to evacuate to Mars once we're done wrecking the Earth depends on a lot, but the whole idea is a nonstarter if the fourth rock from the sun is dry. Ten years ago scientists discovered evidence of flowing water on Mars and we have reason to believe there's plenty of the frozen variety, but we still haven't caught Mars with its gullies wet.
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