Jun 02 2008
Digging for Ice on Mars
It is amazes me that we are doing so much to explore Mars. Recently the Mars Phoenix Lander touched down on Mars on May 26th and the Twitter Followers were the first to know. “With liquid water comes the possibility of life. On the Phoenix, a robotic arm with a scoop will dig into the ice layer. Instruments on the spacecraft included a small oven that will heat the scooped-up dirt and ice to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Analyzing the vapors will provide information on the minerals, and that will, in turn, provide clues about whether the ice ever melted and whether this region was habitable. The mission is to last three months” (from NYTIMES article).
The lander is ready to begin digging for ICE, the main objective for the lander. Above is a picture from the landing that seems to have exposed ice below the soil.
To find out more about the Phoenix Mission, The University of Arizona (with the help of NASA) has a great website (and very teacher/kid friendly…lots of images, videos) http://fawkes3.lpl.arizona.edu/index.php
What planet are you from?
