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Lander Finds Ice on Mars, Scientists Say
A trench dug by the Phoenix lander reveals white ice beneath the surface soil of Mars. Scientists say they are sure it is frozen water and not salt.
(Nasa Via Associated Press)
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"If you were to get a big broom and sweep it off, we are on a big ice sheet," Smith said.
Water is necessary for life but is far from sufficient. Scientists will also have to find a fair amount of carbon before they are willing to say the planet might have been habitable. Carbon forms the chemical backbone of proteins and fats, and in addition to water it is the major constituent of living cells and tissue.
"The ice may always be in a frozen state," Smith said, noting that without liquid water, the formation of life is hard to imagine. "If you have ice and no food, it is not a habitable zone."
The researchers are extremely interested to know what compounds may be frozen into the ice or, more likely, contained in the dry, reddish soil covering it.
Among the instruments on the lander is a panel of miniature ovens in which Martian soil will be heated to about 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Compounds containing carbon will be vaporized and then chemically analyzed.
The first load of dirt is cooking and will probably be finished today, Lemmon said. Analyzing the results will then take several days.
The researchers hope to get a piece of ice into one of the ovens at some point. Once sealed off from the atmosphere and heated, it would probably have a brief life as liquid water before becoming vapor, Lemmon said.
If the scientists find carbon compounds of the right size and makeup, they will be able to refine their guesses about Mars's life-supporting potential. However, no instrument on the Phoenix mission will be able to prove with certainty that life once existed there -- or that it never has.
