RandomGuy
07-31-2008, 03:21 PM
Phoenix lander confirms ice in Martian soil (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080731/ap_on_sc/phoenix_mars)
LOS ANGELES - The Phoenix spacecraft has tasted Martian water for the first time. The robot heated up ice in one of its instruments earlier this week. Scientists say the chemical test confirms the presence of ice near the Martian north pole.
Until now, the evidence for ice has been circumstantial. That was based on photos Phoenix took of a hard splotchy area near its landing site and changes it saw in a trench.
Phoenix landed in the Martian arctic on May 25 on a three-month digging mission. NASA on Thursday said it was extending the mission another two months.
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Which makes bases and, yes, colonization, much more feasible.
If they find similar in craters on the moon, it will mean getting humans into space will be a LOT cheaper, as water wouldn't have to be lifted into orbit, but simply mined and extracted by robotic facilities.
LOS ANGELES - The Phoenix spacecraft has tasted Martian water for the first time. The robot heated up ice in one of its instruments earlier this week. Scientists say the chemical test confirms the presence of ice near the Martian north pole.
Until now, the evidence for ice has been circumstantial. That was based on photos Phoenix took of a hard splotchy area near its landing site and changes it saw in a trench.
Phoenix landed in the Martian arctic on May 25 on a three-month digging mission. NASA on Thursday said it was extending the mission another two months.
------------------------------------
Which makes bases and, yes, colonization, much more feasible.
If they find similar in craters on the moon, it will mean getting humans into space will be a LOT cheaper, as water wouldn't have to be lifted into orbit, but simply mined and extracted by robotic facilities.