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Phoenix Lander on its way to success

2008-06-23 15:48:23 (GMT) (Caymanmama.com - Technology News)



Los Angeles, California (CaymanMama.com) — Strange microbes grow in some of the strangest environments on earth like Atacama Desert, Chile and Yellowstone National Park. The Phoenix spacecraft of NASA has been digging out the soil of Mars to find out any microbes on the planet. No life has been found on the Red Planet but last week the spacecraft found ice flecks and ice layers on the northern part of the planet, as expected by scientists.

They believe that the lander can reveal some of the most important facts like has the ice ever melted or whether there is any organic or carbonic compound on the planet. The chief scientist of the Arizona University, Tucson, Peter Smith, said that the main goal of the mission is to find out basic ingredients on the planet that allow any kind of life to take shape.

In the recent years, extremophiles in their extreme forms of life have been discovered on some strange places of earth and this is a ray of hope for the scientists who are looking for any kind of extra-terrestrial life. When speculated under microscopes, the extremophiles are found to be different in shape and size as some are resembling miniature corkscrews and other are irregular or rod like in shape. With the help of a dye, the scientists distinguish the dead ones from the living ones.

The Phoenix is not equipped with instruments that can identify living things from fossils but has gas analyzers and ovens which can heat the ice and soil and sniff out he resulting fumes for elements friendly to life. Its web chemical laboratory can test the acidity or pH of soil and the microscope of the spacecraft can examine the granules of soil for minerals which may indicate the presence of water in the past.



tariqdossal · Filed Under Technology 

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