Phoenix Lander Gathers Useful Information About Mars

NASA has decided to extend its Phoenix mission on Mars due to the snowfall on the red planet Monday. The space programs claims it will operate the lander there “until it dies in the cold and dark of the Martian winter.” (Maggie Fox, Reuters)

The explorer found evidence that the dust on the surface of Mars apparently resembles seawater in its chemical makeup, adding to previous studies that support the theory that liquid water may have once flowed on the planet’s surface. The Phoenix lander has lasted far longer than anticipated when it began its mission on Mars back in May and its controllers are intending to “squeeze every drop of life they could” of the solar-powered machine. The machine has already lasted over 40 days past what was expected by its makers at NASA.

“We are literally trying to may hay as the sun shines,” Barry Goldstein, the Phoenix project manager in Pasadena, California said to reporters concerning the lander; however, the lander has already begun to lose power since the sun has slowly begun to dip below the horizon. Mars weatherman Jim Whiteway, based in Toronto, Canada at York University, confirmed that the lander has experienced “snow, frost and clouds forming as the atmosphere cools,” though the snow will vaporize before it reaches the ground.

Scientists knew it had snowed on Mars, but the lander was able to construct unique measurements that showed it happening in real time. The lander has also managed to gather information about the planet’s water supply at one point. It also detected red Martian dust, not unlike seawater, taken through its “atomic force microscope.” Latest analysis of Mars also shows limestone exists on its surface. This information supports the idea further that there’s a high possibility that life exists, or could have existed, on the red planet.

Mars apparently wobbles more than Earth does as it spins, according to Peter Smith, a Phoenix principal investigator at the University of Arizona. This means the poles are sometimes pointed directly at the sun, which would make them warmer. “If you were to sweep away this thin soil layer on what looks like this flat plain you would find it is more like a skating rink,” Smith says. He and his team plan to record the lander’s descent with a live microphone recording, which will be the first time anyone’s been able to actually listen to Mars.

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