Phoenix Lander Discovers Ice, Salt or Something Else?

Posted on June 17, 2008

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander may be on the verge of a big discovery. The picture above reveals a photograph of a white substance that may be ice, salt or some other material. Here are NASA's notes on the photograph:

This color image was acquired by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager on the 19th day of the mission, or Sol 19 (June 13, 2008), after the May 25, 2008, landing. This image shows one trench informally called "Dodo-Goldilocks" after two digs (dug on Sol 18, or June 12, 2008) by Phoenix's Robotic Arm. The trench is 22 centimeters (8.7 inches) wide and 35 centimeters (13.8 inches) long. At its deepest point, the trench is 7 to 8 centimeters (2.7 to 3 inches) deep.
White material, possibly ice, is located only at the upper portion of the trench, indicating that it is not continuous throughout the excavated site. According to scientists, the trench might be exposing a ledge, or only a portion of a slab, of the white material.

Red Orbit reports that a mission scientist believes the mysterious white stuff is ice but says until it disappears (melts) they can't be 100% certain. Mission scientist Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis says, "We think it's ice. But again, until we can see it disappear ... we're not guaranteed yet."

Red Orbit also reports that the rover's oven is working well which is good news because initially there were reports of a struggle to get Mars dirt into the oven.

You can keep up with all of the Phoenix Lander's adventures on Twitter and Plurk. The frequent updates are posted from the point-of-view of the lander.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

SPACE
NASA