But Not A Drop To Drink...

Congratulations are due to the Mars Phoenix Lander crew.
Not only did their mission get its extension, they found the first part of what they were looking for.

They've confirmed the presence of that illusive substance, so critical to life on Earth: WATER!
Remember, everywhere we find water on Earth, we find something living in it.

Here's the announcement from NASA.  Enjoy!
----

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
                    Jet Propulsion Laboratory,

Pasadena

,

Calif.
                   

guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov                    

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
                    NASA Headquarters,

Washington

               
                    dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

                   

Sara Hammond 520-626-1974
                   

University

of

Arizona

,

Tucson
                   

shammond@lpl.arizona.edu                    

RELEASE: 2008-153  July 31, 2008

                   

NASA Spacecraft Confirms Martian Water,

Mission

Extended

                   

TUCSON

,

Ariz.

-- Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.                    

"We have water," said William Boynton of the

University

of

Arizona

, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. "We've seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by

Phoenix

last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted."

                   

With enticing results so far and the spacecraft in good shape, NASA also announced operational funding for the mission will extend through Sept. 30. The original prime mission of three months ends in late August. The mission extension adds five weeks to the 90 days of the prime mission.

                   

"Phoenix is healthy and the projections for solar power look good, so we want to take full advantage of having this resource in one of the most interesting locations on Mars," said Michael Meyer, chief scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in

Washington

.

                   

The soil sample came from a trench approximately 2 inches deep. When the robotic arm first reached that depth, it hit a hard layer of frozen soil. Two attempts to deliver samples of

                   

icy soil on days when fresh material was exposed were foiled when the samples became stuck inside the scoop. Most of the material in Wednesday's sample had been exposed to the air for two days, letting some of the water in the sample vaporize away and making the soil easier to handle.

                   

"Mars is giving us some surprises," said

Phoenix

principal investigator Peter Smith of the

University

of

Arizona

. "We're excited because surprises are where discoveries come from. One surprise is how the soil is behaving. The ice-rich layers stick to the scoop when poised in the sun above the deck, different from what we expected from all the Mars simulation testing we've done. That has presented challenges for delivering samples, but we're finding ways to work with it and we're gathering lots of information to help us understand this soil."

                   

Since landing on May 25,

Phoenix

has been studying soil with a chemistry lab, TEGA, a microscope, a conductivity probe and cameras. Besides confirming the 2002 finding from orbit of water ice near the surface and deciphering the newly observed stickiness, the science team is trying to determine whether the water ice ever thaws enough to be available for biology and if carbon-containing chemicals and other raw materials for life are present.

                   

The mission is examining the sky as well as the ground. A Canadian instrument is using a laser beam to study dust and clouds overhead.

                   

"It's a 30-watt light bulb giving us a laser show on Mars," said Victoria Hipkin of the Canadian Space Agency.

                   

A full-circle, color panorama of

Phoenix

's surroundings also has been completed by the spacecraft.

                   

"The details and patterns we see in the ground show an ice-dominated terrain as far as the eye can see," said Mark Lemmon of

Texas

A&M

University

, lead scientist for

Phoenix

's Surface Stereo Imager camera. "They help us plan measurements we're making within reach of the robotic arm and interpret those measurements on a wider scale."

                   

The

Phoenix

mission is led by Smith at the

University

of

Arizona

with project management at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in

Pasadena

,

Calif.

, and development partnership at Lockheed Martin in

Denver

. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the

University

of

Neuchatel

,

Switzerland

; the universities of

Copenhagen

and Aarhus in

Denmark

; the Max Planck Institute in

Germany

; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

                   

For more about

Phoenix

, visit:

                   

 

                   

http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix

                   

 

                   

-end-

Comments

[Trevor]

Typo:

"get it's extension" --> "get its extension"