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The Mysteries of Martian Canals: NASA Phoenix Lander Proves Mars Has Water
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Mars Phoenix Lander//NASA
It's not every day that you can watch a senior scientist whip out a flower-bedecked witch's hat, complete with veil, to announce a major find in space exploration. But today's mood for a Phoenix Mars Lander press briefing could easily be called "giddy" as Phoenix leaders announced that the probe had scooped up Martian water.
William Boynton, the University of Arizona lead scientist for one phase of the project, donned the hat during a press briefing today. Applause, laughter, and an overview of planetary exploration by Nobel Prize winner Dr. John Mather of Goddard Space Flight Center followed in one of the jolliest scentific press conferences seen in a long time.
The scooping of the ice followed glitches earlier this week when Mars' "sticky soil" jammed up inside the robotic arm of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA). A little long-distance fiddling, and, at long last, Mars delivered--little bits of ice.
The controversy over whether or not Mars had water, or was a dry, dead planet goes back to the 1800's, when speculation grew that strange markings on Mars were actually water canals. The Mars canal theories stimulated not only future scientists, but also science fiction writers like Ray Bradbury, who wrote the haunting Martian Chronicles, Robert Heinlein, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Boynton said he informally called the ice sample "Wicked Witch", harking back to Hansel and Gretel when a witch was shoved into an oven. However, Boynton said, referring to the heating process of the TEGA, maybe he should have instead recalled the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz, who met her end by melting.
Confessing to popping some champagne corks earlier in the day, the team was clearly in a celebratory mood. After all, they had just proven that Mars, the dusty, red planet, has water. And, scientists said, the samples also contained many of the chemical elements of life.
The Phoenix Lander mission has now been extended for an additional five weeks.
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