Mars Lander Awash in Data

by Damon Gambuto     Department:

I've throttled back on the Mars Lander news updates of late, but I can spare you my astrophilia no longer.  The latest from the Red Planet is that Phoenix has dug its robotic hand into the dirt and come out with a fistful of chemical data that points toward - you guessed it - water.  A lot of water.

The Phoenix Mars Lander performed its first wet-chemical analysis on Mars and it has left the scientists here on Earth - in the words of Michael Hecht - 'awash in chemistry data."  Hecht, it should be noted, heads up yet another fantastically acronymed branch of the research team called the Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer, or MECA.  MECA is an instrument on Phoenix that aids in soil analysis.  As Hecht explained, "we're trying to understand what is the chemistry of wet soil on Mars, what's dissolved in it, how acidic or alkaline it is. With the results we received from Phoenix yesterday, we could begin to tell what aspects of the soil might support life."

Here's a look at the soil sample being analyzed.

Phoenix co-investigator and lead scientist for the wet-chemical investigation Sam Kounaves explained the significance of Phoenix's soil work:  "This is the first wet-chemical analysis ever done on Mars or any planet, other than Earth... This soil appears to be a close analog to surface soils found in the upper dry valleys in Antarctica.  The alkalinity of the soil at this location is definitely striking. At this specific location, one-inch into the surface layer, the soil is very basic, with a pH of between eight and nine. We also found a variety of components of salts that we haven't had time to analyze and identify yet, but that include magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride... This is more evidence for water because salts are there. We also found a reasonable number of nutrients, or chemicals needed by life as we know it."

But Damon, you ask, is this such a big deal?  Umm, YES!  I mean, it's not like we're gonna be headed to Mars on space cruise holidays that reveal our suppressed secret agent identities and the discovery of the subterranean, alien-constructed, atmosphere-building, ice-core melters anytime soon.  But the science doesn't need to be fiction to make for good spectacle.  Just ask the experts.

Hey there, Phoenix co-investigator and lead Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA) scientist William Boynton, what do you think?

"The scientific data coming out of the instrument have been just spectacular...At this point, we can say that the soil has clearly interacted with water in the past"

Indeed.  And you, Professor Kounaves, to what conclusions have you come?

"Over time, I've come to the conclusion that the amazing thing about Mars is not that it's an alien world, but that in many aspects, like mineralogy, it's very much like Earth."

Space tourism may not get to Mars in my lifetime, but just in case - dibs on the window seat.

Tags: JPL, Mars, Mars Lander, MECA, NASA, Phoenix, TEGA