WATER ON MARS

UNEDITED SAMPLE SCIENCE AND HEALTH ARTICLE
By Julia Nina Somera Moncada
IV - Madame Marie Curie


After its nearly 10-month journey, the Phoenix Lander landed on Mars on May 25, 2008. The Phoenix is the first in NASA’s Scout Program, which aims to conduct small and small-cost science missions. It landed on the red planet’s northern polar cap. It has an onboard laboratory to test the history of water and the planet’s potential of sustaining life. It is equipped with eight Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA) or oven instruments that will bake and sniff the soil for volatile substances such as water.

On June 3, a white material was first revealed under the soil. On June 12, the lander’s robotic arm dug deeper into the two trenches, informally called “Dodo” and “Goldilocks,” where the white material was found. It created one big trench now called “Dodo-Goldilocks.”

Scientists debated on whether the material was ice or salt. The white material from the inside of the trench vanished four days after its exposure. This convinced scientists that it was indeed frozen water. Digging on a separate trench, the lander’s robotic arm hit a hard surface at the same depth as the ice found on the Dodo-Goldilocks trench.

Laboratory tests aboard the lander have identified water in the soil sample. The lander’s robotic arm delivered a soil sample to an instrument that identifies water vapor produced by heating. The sample came from approximately 2 inches below the ground where the robotic arm hit a hard layer.

The mission is planned to last 92 Earth days. After that, the Martian winter will settle in. The dimming light will deprive the solar-powered Phoenix of electricity to run its instruments. It is expected to end its life covered in frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice). There is a very low possibility that the Phoenix will come back to life in spring.