Phoenix Mars Lander - Water Found on Mars
When the Phoenix launched into space and landed safely on Mars, it had 2 objectives:
- Study the History of Water in All its Phases.
- Search for Evidence of Habitable Zone and Assess the Biological Potential of the Ice-Soil Boundary.
On July 31, 2008 NASA confirmed that after a few failed attempts, water ice was accidentally found on a sample of soil collected by the robotic arm.
William Boynton, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA said: “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.”
Tests are now being conducted in order to see if Mars ever supported life.
Mission Chief Peter Smith said “We’re looking to understand the history of the ice, by trying to figure out if this ice has ever melted, and through melting has created a liquid environment that modifies soil”
“We’re just getting the data back. Through this we also hope to resolve questions; is this a habitable zone on Mars, meaning that we have periodic liquid water, materials that are the basic ingredients for life forms?” he added.
And because of this recent discovery, the mission was extended until Sept 30. That’s 90 days more than the original end date. Scientists wants to be able to fully utilize the Phoenix and sample more soil and water to fully identify its composition.
This discovery is another breakthrough for the human kind. NASA is getting close to determining if life ever existed on Mars and if the planet is habitable. The question is, if in case NASA is able to prove that Mars is capable of supporting life. WHAT’S NEXT?
The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and development partnership at Lockheed Martin in Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus in Denmark; the Max Planck Institute in Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
Image credits: NASA/JPL