SCIENTISTS are rarely happy when the stuff they鈥檙e trying to study disappears. But in this case it was just what they were hoping for.
On 15 June, NASA鈥檚 Phoenix lander dug into the soil in the Martian arctic and removed chunks of bright material. Four days later they had disappeared, proving the chunks were frozen water, which turns directly from a solid to vapour when exposed to the Martian atmosphere.
Though the Mars rover Opportunity has 鈥渢ouched鈥� water ice frost before when it appeared temporarily on part of its surface, Phoenix has scored a first by digging it up from the planet itself.
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鈥淧hoenix has scored a first by digging ice up from Mars itself鈥�
The Phoenix team now plans to take ice on board the probe to establish whether it is the frozen remnant of an ancient ocean or an accumulation of frost from the atmosphere. It may turn out to have more than one source, says Timothy Titus of the US Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona. 鈥淥ne of the things that Mars has tried to tell us over the last several decades is, 鈥楧on鈥檛 assume I鈥檓 going to be simple鈥�.鈥�
Mars 鈥� Mars is full of surprises, learn more in our continually updated .
