Search for Water-Ice by the Phoenix Mars Lander-Part II
“This is really amazing,” says William Boynton, of the University of Arizona. “This is the best direct evidence we have of subsurface water ice on Mars. Indeed, ” he added, “what we have found is much more ice than we ever expected.”
Once the 1997 Martian images were sent back to Earth by the Mars Global Surveyor, following the landing of the Mars Pathfinder—the public has been interested in Mars and has stayed interested, with NASA seriously studying the possibility of water on the planet in order to sustain some form of life. They feel the key to life’s evolution on the planet is through the understanding of the history of its water.
Every 26 months, NASA is able to launch robotic spacecraft to Mars when the alignment of Earth and Mars are jointly suitable. Carrying a wide assortment of payloads, the spacecraft have ventured forth with items such as cameras to robotic arms in order to study the Martian geology, climate, and its history. But it was not until May 28, 2002, using instruments on NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey, enormous quantities of subsurface were found in amounts that would fill Lake Michigan twice.
As chief investigator of the Odyssey suite of instruments, or collectively known as the gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS), Boynton says the GRS has been mapping Mars since February of 2002. This mapping found actual proof of water ice in the upper three feet of Martian soil in the South Pole area of the planet. The method used was when cosmic rays that came from space hit the surface of Mars, the gamma-rays and neutrons flew out of the Martian soil. The GRS was able to detect them, while measuring their energies, while also revealing to the NASA scientists and engineers what elements were present in the Martian soil.
The find of hydrogen proves the existence of water, and is most likely found in the form of water ice that the GRS can measure for permanent ground ice. When different types of data were combined, the Odyssey group decided that the hydrogen was not actually divided evenly over the upper surface of the planet, more concentrated on the lower layers beneath the surface. The data also revealed that hydrogen-rich areas were located in very cold areas and where ice was stable. The team predicted that the ice rich layers were two feet beneath the surface 60 degrees south latitude, and within one foot of the surface at 75 degrees south latitude. NASA stated in their report, “William Feldman, principal investigator for GRS’s neutron spectrometer at Los Alamos National Laboratories, notes that ‘the signature of buried hydrogen seen in the south polar area is also seen in the north, but not in the areas close to the pole.’”
This entry was posted on Saturday, September 1st, 2007 at 11:42 am and is filed under Mission History, Mission Objectives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
