Phoenix Lander Discovers Nighttime Snowfall On Mars

Many outlets are reporting on the recently released results of the various experiments and observations of NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander. Most notable is the discovery of nighttime snowfall on the planet, lending credibility to the idea of a hypothesized active water cycle based on earlier data collection. "The papers rely on evidence from a variety of the instruments on the lander, and the description of the data provides an impressive catalog of the various ways that Phoenix could prod and query the Martian pole. In the months before Martian winter shut the lander down, it managed to dig a dozen trenches, taking soil samples from each. These samples went into wet and dry chemistry labs, had their conductivity tested, and were even examined using an atomic force microscope. Meanwhile, cameras and a LIDAR system (a laser-based range detector) scanned the surroundings. The overall conclusion is that the northern pole has an active water cycle. This had been suggested by a variety of evidence from orbital sensors, as well early images returned from Phoenix. It's also not a huge shock, given the seasonal growth and retreat of the polar ice cap. Still, Phoenix provided some significant details on the cycling of water in the area where it landed."

Comments

Should have reprogrammed the lander

[ciderVisor]

to build a snowmartian.

Hopefully it is not...

[Finallyjoined!!!]

Yellow snow..

Re:Hopefully it is not...

[ucblockhead]

Not just yellow...we don't know what color martian pee is.

Blue $ky

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's my proposal:

1) Build water plant on mars
2) Wait until the earth's drinkable water supply runs out
3) Sell martian water to the middle east at $4.00 a gallon
4) ???
5) Profit!

Now all we need to do is find a way to create some domes up there.

Re:Blue $ky

[kungfugleek]

Now all we need to do is find a way to create some domes up there.

Could probably just outsource that work to the Martians. I heard they work for Reece's Pieces.

Re:Blue $ky

[Radtastic]

You need to rethink your marketing strategy. Bottled water in the US costs well over $4.00 per gallon when you buy 16oz or 20oz bottles individually.

Re:Blue $ky

[Radtastic]

ok. Correction. Your marketing strategy is sound, it's the pricing strategy that can be improved :)

Re:Awesome

[Polarina]

Mars has only two kinds of weather; snow and sandstorms. I can only guess that that it increases the reliability of weather forecasts significantly.

Increases the chances of a water cycle?

[Bandman]

Unless some of my very basic assumptions are wrong, this sort of cements the "active water cycle", doesn't it? I'm fairly certain that the Martian atmosphere won't tolerate something like methane snow, so what's left?

Canadians find snow on Mars - no surprise

[The Yuckinator]

FTFA:

But the really amazing data came from the LIDAR instrument, which was able to track the formation of the clouds at the atmosphere's boundary layer. Cloud formation became more pronounced as the summer gradually faded and the atmosphere cooled at night, and the scientists were eventually able to detect cirrus-like clouds as they dropped "tilted vertical sheets" of ice particles back to the surface of the planet. In short, they watched it snow.

Leave it to us Canadians, we go to Mars to talk about the weather and manage to find snow.

Oh, and this is also old news, although it may be "new news" because today's article talks about *nighttime* snowfall and not just plain old "snowfall".

I for one welcome our new snow overlords

[SpoodyGoon]

I for one welcome our new snow overlords, of which no two are exactly alike.