Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow

Riding with Robots writes "NASA reports that the Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. According to the Canadian team running a weather experiment, a laser instrument designed to study how the atmosphere and surface interact on Mars has detected snow from clouds about 4 kilometers above the landing site. Data shows the snow vaporizing before reaching the surface, but one of the mission scientists said, 'We'll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground.' Spacecraft soil experiments have also provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water."

Comments

Re:Martian Lander Snow Angels next?

[GodfatherofSoul]

I really wish NASA thought more like this. I'm not literally talking about snow angels, but simply trying to make science more accessible to the public. Hell, some probes don't even have true-color cameras. Don't sacrifice the science, but go for some flash as well.

Re:If there is water...

[marcosdumay]

"If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb"

No problem, your sig excuses you.

H2O Snow?

[kmarshallbanana]

Do they know for sure that the snow is H20 snow. Or could it be snow made of something else?