Phoenix Lander experimenting with the soil on Mars
2008-06-27 16:36:38 (GMT) (Caymanmama.com - Technology News)Los Angeles, California (CaymanMama.com) – According to scientists, the Phoenix Lander tested samples of soil from the North Pole of Mars and revealed that there is a salty environment on the planet which is similar to the one found in the backyards of earth. This finding has raised hopes of the scientists to find favorable conditions for life on the arctic plains of the Red planet. The Phoenix Lander landed on the planet around a month back for studying the habitability on its northern latitudes.
One of the scientists of the mission, Samuel Kounaves from Tufts University said that the soil of Mars seems to be very friendly for life and there is nothing in it that can preclude life. So far, the Lander has not found any organic carbon which has been considered as an essential block for building life. In the past week, it had found evidences of the presence of some ice below its soil. Generally, the scientists agree that carbon compounds and liquid water are essentially required for the presence of life. Earlier in this week, the 8-foot long arm of the Lander delivered a small amount of dirt that it dug up to the on board laboratory.
The spacecraft added water to the soil and stirred it in a beaker. The sensors in the beaks detected the pH of the soil and investigated for any traces of nutrients. The results showed that the soil has 8-9 pH, which means that it is alkaline. The spacecraft also detected traces of sodium, magnesium, chloride and potassium in this mixture. Kounaves said that such environment is favorable for planting green beans, asparagus and turnips and a bacterium that loves chemicals can thrive there.
David Paige, a planetary scientist from California University said that right now it cannot be said whether the soil minerals found so far can support life or not. Another experiment, which included heating of the soil at high temperatures and sniffing the gas, showed that there were traces of water vapor.
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