Using instruments on NASA's 2001 Odyssey Spacecraft, scientist found enormous amounts of ice just under the surface of Mars, on May 28, 2002, and again on September 25, 2009. They first found enough water ice that could fill Lake Michigan, twice over. "It must be ice," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. "These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice. There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can't do that." Scientists were very excited to discovery that there is actually ice on mars.
Discovery:
The Phoenix Mars Lander was only digging a trench in the soil when it came across dice-sized chunks of bright material. The pieces later vanished, meaning they had to have been frozen water, that when exposed they melted.
The ice found on Mars was only a few meters below the rubble on, but could run up to a kilometer thick. Based on the features of the local impact craters, which are used to date the landscapes on Mars, it is suspected that the ice sheets existed tens to hundreds of millions of years ago. Although that may seem like a long time ago, compared to the billions of years that have passed since mars might have been capable of supporting liquid water, it's nothing. This shows that Mars can have very long-term climate changes, because of the gradual wobble in the tilt of the planet's axis. The wobble creates periods when Mars poles dip very low, allowing the sun to shine more on the poles in the respective summer time.
“We knew there was ice below the surface at high latitudes of Mars, but we find that it extends far closer to the equator than you would think, based on Mars’ climate today,” said Shane Byrne of the University of Arizona, a member of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment. “The other surprising discovery is that ice exposed at the bottom of these meteorite impact craters is so pure,” Byrne said. “The thinking before was that ice accumulates below the surface between soil grains, so there would be a 50-50 mix of dirt and ice. We were able to figure out, given how long it took that ice to fade from view, that the mixture is about one percent dirt and 99 percent ice.”
Biography of Investigator:
Technically there is no specific person that was the investigator of the ice found on Mars, but the real investigator would be the Phoenix Mars Lander. NASA's invention of the Phoenix plays a very important role in the space exploration, especially in exploring Mars and any possible traces of life on the planet. The scout class missions are led by a scientist known as the principle investigator, Peter Smith. He is responsible for the missions the Phoenix undergoes and all the aspects of it. It is not just Peter Smith alone; there is also a team of people involved in the missions, making sure everything runs smoothly with the Phoenix. This powerful team is responsible for the Phoenix mission. Their ultimate plans are to pave the way for future robotic missions, and possibly, human exploration.
Impact on the World/Humanity:
The discovery of water ice on Mars has a huge impact on predicting possible new discoveries and finding out if there is life on Mars. As we have found on Earth, wherever there is water and heat, there is life, so this is very encouraging for the search of possible life on Mars.
This discovery is also very beneficial for the astronauts that will go on future missions to Mars, because they now know they will have an easy access to water, hydrogen, and oxygen. Water is very heavy and difficult to transport, but for the scientists who plan to go and establish a base there, they may be able to purify the water just under the surface of Mars to drink.
Water is the essential ingredient in survival. Without it, most of the biological processes needed for life will not take place. With the discovery of water ice just under the surface of Mars, there can now be made theories that Mars had been a much wetter place and it is possible that the water could have been a substantial part of Mar's surface in the past.
It is very exciting for scientists who spend their life researching Mars to have this discovery. This tells them that it is very possible life could have evolved on Mars, even more excitingly, human life could still be hidden in tiny pockets beneath the surface of Mars.
Journal Article Review:
The Phoenix is designed to study the history of water and also to study and search for complex organic molecules in Mar's soil. Mars is a cold desert planet that has no liquid water on it's surface. In 2002, large amounts of sub-surface water ice was found in the northern arctic plains. This is the main region the Phoenix lander targets. It digs its robotic arm through the surface to dig up both soil and water ice for scientists to then analyze. The Phoenix explores the habitability of the environment by using chemical experiments. These assess the soil's composition to see if the is life-giving elements, such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, and hydrogen.
Mars is very cold and dry with a thin carbon dioxide layer. Therefore, the discover of water ice on Mars was a huge discovery! The surface of Mars has no liquid water. There are no rivers, no lakes, and no oceans. There is no evidence of water present on the surface currently, but there is building evidence of past presence of water on the surface of Mars.
List of References:
Found it! Ice on Mars | . Retrieved January 29, 2011, from http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2002/28may_marsice/
Ice on Mars an important breakthrough | . Retrieved February 4, 2011, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3345155/Ice-on-Mars-an-important-breakthrough.html
Launched in August 2007, the Phoenix Mars Mission is the first in NASA's Scout Program. Phoenix is designed to study the history of water and habitability potential in the Martian arctic's ice-rich soil. | . Retrieved February 4, 2011, http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/mission.php
A Martian's view of Mars | . Retrieved February 5, 2011, from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/a-martians-view-of-mars-1036906.html?action=Gallery&ino=3
Phoenix Mars Mission | . Retrieved February 16, 2011, from phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/pdf/fact_sheet.pdf
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