NASA Says Mars Craft "Touched and Tasted" Water
By Jill Serjeant, Reuters
July 31, 2008
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NASA scientists said on Thursday they had definitive proof
that water exists on Mars after further tests on ice found on the planet in June by the
Phoenix Mars Lander.
"We have water," said William Boynton, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas
Analyzer instrument on Phoenix.
"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," he said, referring to the craft's
instruments.
NASA on Thursday also extended the mission of the Phoenix Mars Lander by five
weeks, saying its work was moving beyond the search for water to exploring whether the
red planet was ever capable of sustaining life.
"We are extending the mission through September 30," Michael Meyer, chief scientist for
NASA's Mars exploration program, told a televised news conference.
The extension will add about $2 million to the $420 million cost of landing Phoenix on
May 25 for what was a scheduled three-month mission, Meyer said.
Phoenix is the latest NASA bid to discover whether water -- a crucial ingredient for life -ever flowed on Mars and whether life, even in the form of mere microbes, exists or ever
existed there.
Phoenix touched down in May on an ice sheet and samples of the ice were seen melting
away in photographs taken by the lander's instruments in June.
Boynton said that water was positively identified after the lander's robotic arm delivered
a soil sample on Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by
heating.
Mission scientists said the extension would give time for more analysis of Martian
samples. They plan to dig two additional trenches -- dubbed "cupboard" and "neverland"
-- using the robotic arm on the Phoenix craft.
"We hope to be able to answer the question of whether this was a habitable zone on
Mars. It will be for future missions to find if anyone is home on this environment,"
Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith told the news conference.
Mission scientists said in June that Martian soil was more alkaline than expected and
had traces of magnesium, sodium, potassium and other elements. They described the
findings as a "huge step forward."
Meyer said the scientific proof of the existence of water meant that Phoenix could "move
from looking for water to seeing whether there were habitats for life.
"We are moving towards understanding whether there were or could be places on Mars
that are habitable," Meyer said.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Eric Walsh)
There’s Water on Mars, NASA Confirms
By John Johnson Jr., Los Angeles Times
August 1, 2008
Tests performed on the Phoenix lander offer definitive proof, scientists say. It is the first
time any spacecraft has discovered water on another planet.
After weeks of testing the soil in the Martian arctic, NASA's Phoenix lander has for the
first time confirmed through chemical analysis the presence of water on another planet,
scientists said Thursday.
Several weeks ago, Phoenix uncovered convincing visual evidence that it had landed on
an ice field when it set down on Mars' northern plain May 25.
Pictures beamed back to Earth across 200 million miles showed white streaks in the
lumpy soil around the lander, and a tool on the lander's robotic arm had shaved off
chunks of the material that scientists were certain was ice.
On Thursday, the Phoenix team -- consisting of scientists from NASA and the University
of Arizona -- presented evidence that material baked in one of Phoenix's eight tiny ovens
was indeed water, the first time any spacecraft from Earth had tasted the life-giving
substance on another world.
The evidence came from a mass spectrometer on Phoenix's thermal and evolved-gas
analyzer, or TEGA. When heated, the targeted material in the soil melted at the
expected temperature, which Phoenix scientist William Boynton called definitive proof.
"The fact that it melted at 0 degrees centigrade leaves very little doubt" that it is water,
said Boynton, speaking at a news conference in Tucson.
For Phoenix scientists, the challenge hasn't been finding the ice but getting it into one of
the testing ovens.
The ovens are only about the width of a pen cartridge. Getting soil in there was difficult
because it proved to be clumpy. Scientists finally got one sample of soil in an oven
several weeks ago by dribbling it in.
Getting the ice in was even harder. It tended to either vaporize or stick to the scoop on
the robotic arm.
Over recent days, the scientists had grown so frustrated with the failure to transfer bits of
ice into the oven that they gave up and decided to put another soil sample into a second
2
oven. When they performed the first of four heat tests on the material, the mass
spectrometer on the instrument detected a change at the melting point of ice.
"We've gotten an ice sample into TEGA," said a smiling Boynton. "It tastes very fine."
The amount of ice in the soil sample is tiny, probably about 1% of the total, Boynton
said. In the next few days, the TEGA instrument will gradually heat the sample to a
temperature of 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, testing the gases given off along the way for
the presence of organic chemicals, the building blocks of life as humans understand it.
It could be weeks before the Phoenix team is finished with the analysis. In the meantime,
the scientists will try to perfect the ice delivery method to obtain a larger sample.
Also Thursday, NASA said it was extending the Phoenix mission by a month beyond the
90 days previously announced. The mission has completed 65 sols, or Martian days.
It is high summer on Mars, but in a few months winter will set in, covering the lander in a
thick coat of carbon dioxide ice, snuffing out its life.
john.johnson@latimes.com
Scientists: Salt in Mars Soil Not Bad for life
By Alicia Chang, Associated Press
August 5, 2008
LOS ANGELES - Traces of a rocket fuel ingredient found in the Martian soil would not
necessarily hinder potential life, mission scientists said Tuesday.
NASA's Phoenix spacecraft earlier this month detected the chemical perchlorate, a
highly oxidizing salt, in soil samples dug up from near the Martian surface. On Earth, it
can be found naturally in the arid Atacama Desert in Chile where some extreme
organisms use it as a source of energy.
"We know that microbes can exist quite happily in oxidizing conditions," said Phoenix
scientist Richard Quinn of the NASA Ames Research Center. "The story possibly could
turn out to be the same for Mars. We don't know yet."
The surprising find comes less than two months after scientists reported that the soil
near Mars' north pole was Earth-like where plants such as asparagus, green beans and
turnips could thrive. The presence of perchlorate, if confirmed, would appear to make the
soil more exotic than previously believed.
But scientists insisted that has no bearing on the red planet's habitability.
"In itself, it is neither good nor bad for life," chief scientist Peter Smith of the University of
Arizona in Tucson said of the chemical.
Some researchers who have no role in the $420 million mission were less enthusiastic.
3
"Perchlorate is not a particularly nice thing to find in the soil," said astrobiologist Kenneth
Nealson of the University of Southern California. "No one hunting for life would be happy
to see it in any sort of abundance."
Although some microbes on Earth thrive on perchlorate, "it is not a molecule of choice
for most life," Nealson said.
Phoenix landed in the Martian arctic plains on May 25 to study whether the region could
support life, past or present. It confirmed the presence of ice at the landing site, but it
has yet to uncover organic, or carbon-based, building blocks of life.
The spacecraft detected perchlorate in two soil samples taken from different shallow
trenches using its onboard chemistry lab. Scientists are working to confirm the signal
because another Phoenix instrument, also capable of sniffing out the chemical, failed to
turn up any evidence in a test last week.
It's unknown whether the detected perchlorate occurs naturally on Mars. NASA is
investigating whether the contaminant could have hitchhiked aboard Phoenix during
launch preparations. It's unlikely the chemical leaked from the spacecraft's thrusters
since they carried hydrazine fuel. Engineers said there's a remote possibility that
Phoenix may have been contaminated by the rocket that launched it.
Perchlorate is used in solid rocket fuel, fireworks, pyrotechnics and other explosives. In
the United States, perchlorate contamination has been found in the waterways of at least
25 states, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The toxin can
interfere with thyroid function and poses developmental health risks, particularly to
fetuses.
While oxidizers can be harmful to living things, perchlorate is relatively stable in soil and
would not react with organics unless triggered, said geochemist David Parker of the
University of California, Riverside.
The last time NASA searched for organics was during the twin Viking missions in the
1970s. The spacecraft turned up empty. Some scientists theorized that an oxidant,
perhaps peroxide, in the Martian soil may be responsible for breaking down carbon
compounds if they had existed.
___
On the Net:
http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.eduMartian Soil May Contain Detrimental Substance
4
By Alicia Chang, Associated Press
August 5, 2008
LOS ANGELES - NASA's Phoenix spacecraft has detected the presence of a chemically
reactive salt in the Martian soil, a finding that if confirmed could make it less friendly to
potential life than once believed.
Scientists previously reported that the soil near Mars' north pole was similar to backyard
gardens on Earth where plants such as asparagus, green beans and turnips could grow.
But preliminary results from a second lab test found perchlorate, a highly oxidizing salt,
that would create a harsh environment.
The first test "suggested Earth-like soil. Further analysis has revealed un-Earthlike
aspects of the soil chemistry," chief scientist Peter Smith of the University of Arizona in
Tucson said in a statement Monday.
On Earth, perchlorate is a natural and manmade contaminant sometimes found in soil
and groundwater. It is the main ingredient in solid rocket fuel and can be found in
fireworks, pyrotechnics and other explosives.
It's unclear how perchlorate forms on Mars or how much there is of it. NASA is
investigating whether the substance could have gotten there by contamination before
launch. Phoenix used another fuel, hydrazine, to power its thrusters and land on the red
planet on May 25.
Phoenix detected the salt through a chemistry experiment. The lander mixed soil with
water brought from Earth into a teacup-size beaker and stirred it. Two dozen sensors
inside the beaker detect the soil's pH and probe for traces of mineral nutrients.
The first test determined the soil was slightly alkaline and contained nutrients such as
magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride necessary for living things. The second test
found the highly reactive perchlorate.
Scientists want to confirm their results because another Phoenix instrument that bakes
and sniffs soil samples found no evidence of perchlorate during a run on Sunday.
Brown University geologist John Mustard, who has no role in the mission, said judgment
about the soil's potential to support life should be reserved until all the data are in.
But at first glance, "it is a reactive compound. It's not usually considered an ingredient for
life," Mustard said.
The latest soil finding comes less than a week after NASA extended Phoenix's threemonth mission by another five weeks through the end of September.
Since arriving at Mars, the three-legged lander has impressed scientists by confirming
that ice exists in the Martian arctic plains. Its main task is to study whether the landing
site could be a habitable zone for primitive life forms to emerge.
___
On the Net:
5
http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu
Scientists: Salt in Mars Soil Not Bad for Life
By ALICIA CHANG, Associated Press
August 5, 2008
LOS ANGELES - Traces of a rocket fuel ingredient found in the Martian soil would not
necessarily hinder potential life, mission scientists said Tuesday.
NASA's Phoenix spacecraft earlier this month detected the chemical perchlorate, a
highly oxidizing salt, in soil samples dug up from near the Martian surface. On Earth, it
can be found naturally in the arid Atacama Desert in Chile where some extreme
organisms use it as a source of energy.
"We know that microbes can exist quite happily in oxidizing conditions," said Phoenix
scientist Richard Quinn of the NASA Ames Research Center. "The story possibly could
turn out to be the same for Mars. We don't know yet."
The surprising find comes less than two months after scientists reported that the soil
near Mars' north pole was Earth-like where plants such as asparagus, green beans and
turnips could thrive. The presence of perchlorate, if confirmed, would appear to make the
soil more exotic than previously believed.
But scientists insisted that has no bearing on the red planet's habitability.
"In itself, it is neither good nor bad for life," chief scientist Peter Smith of the University of
Arizona in Tucson said of the chemical.
Some researchers who have no role in the $420 million mission were less enthusiastic.
"Perchlorate is not a particularly nice thing to find in the soil," said astrobiologist Kenneth
Nealson of the University of Southern California. "No one hunting for life would be happy
to see it in any sort of abundance."
Although some microbes on Earth thrive on perchlorate, "it is not a molecule of choice
for most life," Nealson said.
Phoenix landed in the Martian arctic plains on May 25 to study whether the region could
support life, past or present. It confirmed the presence of ice at the landing site, but it
has yet to uncover organic, or carbon-based, building blocks of life.
The spacecraft detected perchlorate in two soil samples taken from different shallow
trenches using its onboard chemistry lab. Scientists are working to confirm the signal
because another Phoenix instrument, also capable of sniffing out the chemical, failed to
turn up any evidence in a test last week.
6
It's unknown whether the detected perchlorate occurs naturally on Mars. NASA is
investigating whether the contaminant could have hitchhiked aboard Phoenix during
launch preparations. It's unlikely the chemical leaked from the spacecraft's thrusters
since they carried hydrazine fuel. Engineers said there's a remote possibility that
Phoenix may have been contaminated by the rocket that launched it.
Perchlorate is used in solid rocket fuel, fireworks, pyrotechnics and other explosives. In
the United States, perchlorate contamination has been found in the waterways of at least
25 states, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The toxin can
interfere with thyroid function and poses developmental health risks, particularly to
fetuses.
While oxidizers can be harmful to living things, perchlorate is relatively stable in soil and
would not react with organics unless triggered, said geochemist David Parker of the
University of California, Riverside.
The last time NASA searched for organics was during the twin Viking missions in the
1970s. The spacecraft turned up empty. Some scientists theorized that an oxidant,
perhaps peroxide, in the Martian soil may be responsible for breaking down carbon
compounds if they had existed.
___
On the Net:
http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu
Perchlorate Found in Martian Soil
By John Johnson Jr., Los Angeles Times
August 6, 2008
The finding has surprised scientists, but they deny that the salt -- which occurs naturally
on Earth and is used in fireworks -- would render the Red Planet uninhabitable.
New soil chemistry tests by NASA's Phoenix Mars lander have unexpectedly uncovered
evidence of perchlorate, a highly reactive salt found naturally on Earth and used in a
variety of products, including fertilizer, fireworks and rocket fuel, scientists said Tuesday.
The finding has surprised scientists evaluating results from Phoenix, but they denied that
the presence of large amounts of the salt would render Mars uninhabitable.
"It might even be a positive" indicator for habitability, said Peter Smith, one of the lead
scientists on the Phoenix mission.
On Earth, perchlorate is found most abundantly in the surface soils of Chile's Atacama
Desert, which coincidentally has long served as a Martian stand-in for researchers trying
to understand conditions on the Red Planet.
7
The 600-mile-long strip of land in Chile is about 50 times drier than Death Valley. Even
so, it is not uninhabited. Microbes flourish there, and some life forms even feed on the
perchlorate in the soil.
"This is an important piece in the puzzle" surrounding Mars and its ability to sustain life,
Smith said at a media briefing in Tucson, where much of the Phoenix research is based
at the University of Arizona.
"In itself, it's neither good nor bad for life," he said.
Perchlorate was first detected several weeks ago with Phoenix's onboard wet chemistry
lab, which mixes water from Earth with Martian soils.
The scientific team held back the information while researchers tried to confirm the
finding with a second onboard instrument, known as the thermal and evolved-gas
analyzer, which can heat the soil up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit to determine its exact
chemical composition.
Those tests remain incomplete, but NASA decided to publicize the perchlorate discovery
Tuesday after word spread that the agency was hiding evidence that Mars was hostile to
life. The scientists Tuesday denied that they were being secretive, saying they simply
wanted to consult with other scientists before publicizing the data.
Researchers said they were initially startled by the size of the chemical signal. Because
it was so large, they at first discounted it, thinking the instrument had developed a
problem. Some scientists thought the device might even be picking up contamination
from the rocket engines that carried Phoenix across 200 million miles of space from
Earth to the vast, rolling northern plains of Mars.
But on Tuesday, the scientists tended to discount contamination because the craft's
descent engines use hydrazine, not chlorine. Also, no perchlorate was found when
Phoenix calibrated the wet chemistry lab after its landing May 25 on the Red Planet.
The wet chemistry lab is a set of four beakers into which water is injected to mix with the
soil. A collection of 26 sensors then samples the mixture to analyze its contents.
Because perchlorate is so soluble in water, it is rarely found in surface soils on Earth.
Even though Phoenix is sitting atop a vast underground sheet of hard-as-concrete ice, it
hasn't rained on Mars in billions of years.
As well as confirming the wet chemistry finding with the TEGA instrument, the scientists
are trying to understand the mechanism that could deposit such large amounts of
perchlorate on the surface.
The only other chemistry done on Mars was by the twin Viking landers in the 1970s.
They found possible evidence of peroxide, a very different compound.
Because Phoenix is stationary, it won't be possible to determine how widespread these
varieties of soils are. That must wait for the giant Mars Science Lab, scheduled for
launch in 2009.
8
john.johnson@latimes.com
9