News Main
Animals
Archaeology
Dinosaurs
Earth
History
Human Animal
Space
Tech

Mars Phoenix Probe in 'Hospice' Mode

Irene Klotz, Discovery News

"We have all the data we're going to get," Smith said.

Analysis is underway, and Smith said the team's goal is to announce results at a scientific meeting in December.

"We didn't get every single thing we could have because of the complexity of delivering soil up there into the chambers," Smith added.

The Martian soil turned out to be unexpectedly clumpy so that it clogged filters and complicated efforts to place samples into Phoenix's science chambers for processing.

The impediments, however, did not compromise the goals of the mission.

Smith said he's not yet ready to state if Mars was suited for life, but he added, "I think there is going to be enough data to make a final pronouncement."

Some of the Phoenix team's finding already have been announced. They include:

Confirmation of water ice on the planet's surface. Water is considered to be a key ingredient for supporting life.

An alkaline, rather than acidic, soil. On Earth, the pH of soil is important. Food plants, for example, thrive in acidic or neutral soil. So do bacteria. The finding does not necessarily nix the chances for life on Mars.
"Life is very adaptable and can exist in many extreme environments," said Phoenix deputy project scientist Deborah Bass, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

A lack of sulfur compounds, or sulfates, in the soils near the Phoenix landing site. The Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity found sulfates around their landing sites on the planet's equatorial region.

Soil grains show signs of weathering and varying chemical compositions.

A chemical in the soil called perchlorate, which on Earth exists in places with very little rainfall. Scientists are trying to determine what effect perchlorates could have on the prospect for life on Mars.

"It's been a very successful mission," Smith said.

Related Links:

Discovery Space: Facing Death on Mars

NASA: Phoenix Mars Lander