July 2, 2009

Perchlorates and Water Make for Potential Habitable Environment on Mars

Written by Nancy Atkinson

Caption: This mosaic assembled from Phoenix images show the spacecraft's three landing legs. Splotches of Martian material on the landing leg strut at left could be liquid saline-water. Click for larger version on Spaceflightnow. com Credit: Kenneth Kremer, Marco Di Lorenzo, NASA/JPL/UA/Max Planck Institute and Spaceflightnow.com. Used by permission

Scientists say that the Arctic region studied by Phoenix lander may be a favorable environment for microbes. Just-right chemistry and periods where thin films of liquid water form on the surface could make for a habitable setting.

"Not only did we find water ice, as expected, but the soil chemistry and minerals we observed lead us to believe this site had a wetter and warmer climate in the recent past — the last few million years — and could again in the future," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson.

The Phoenix science team released four papers today after spending months interpreting the data returned by the lander during its 5-month mission.

Full article here, plus a cool-looking mosaic:

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/07/02/perchlorates-and-water-make-for-potential-habitable-environment-on-mars/