NASA Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow, Soil Data Suggest Liquid Past

[Kyle Love]

An awesome article that I found on Digg a few minutes ago.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080929.html

[cooker52]

It's sad to see the Phoenix begin to decline in performance, but this is a grand development! Snow falling on Mars means a great chance of it being capable of supporting life, and that will be one of the greatest discoveries on Mars.

Great find!

[Wetzel]

I like snow.

Dave, you know when plans will allow Martian ski trips?

[Qbranch]

Awesome article... I love reading about robots in vogue. :rolleyes:

When there isn't enough sun exposure to run the insturments, will the robot just shut down and then come back online when there's enough sun again next martian year?

-q

[Ian Curtis]

Awesome article... I love reading about robots in vogue. :rolleyes:

When there isn't enough sun exposure to run the insturments, will the robot just shut down and then come back online when there's enough sun again next martian year?

-q

Well, theoretically, but in the polar regions of Mars it gets cold, really cold, and they're pretty sure the electronics will get frozen to death over the winter.

According to this article (http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080828-phoenix-postcard.html) in November they won't be able to run the heaters, which they need to protect the lander against the frigid (-85 C at night in late August!) temperatures which are only getting colder.