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NOVA scienceNOW: Phoenix Mars Lander
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Program Overview
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This segment presents the Phoenix Mars Mission and its search for
water and other chemical elements on Mars.
This NOVA scienceNOW segment:
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explains that an earlier NASA Mars mission, the Mars Odyssey
orbiter, detected the presence of hydrogen in the top layer of
the martian surface. However, it was unclear whether this
hydrogen was associated with water.
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points out that Phoenix's goal is to learn if water is present
in the upper layers of Mars and to look for the building blocks
of life—sulfur, nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon.
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mentions that Phoenix landed flawlessly on May 25, 2008 in the
northern polar region of Mars, which has an ice cap of frozen
carbon dioxide.
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notes that Phoenix has two laboratories to test soil samples.
One analyzes samples by wetting them with water. The other heats
and analyzes them.
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describes the testing of a clumpy soil mass that strongly
suggests the presence of water ice.
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reports that Phoenix's soil analysis indicates conditions on
Mars that are found in environments on Earth that support the
growth of microbes.
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concludes that if evidence for life is found on Mars, then life
may exist in many places in the universe.
Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after the program
is recorded off the air.
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