September 30, 2008-- A laser instrument on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander designed to gather knowledge of how the atmosphere and surface interact on Mars, detected snow from clouds about 2.5 miles above the spacecraft's landing site. Data show the snow vaporizing before reaching the ground. Spacecraft soil tests have also provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth.

"Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars," said Jim Whiteway of York University (Toronto, ON, Canada), lead scientist for the Canadian-supplied Meteorological Station on Phoenix. "We'll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground." Since landing on May 25, Phoenix already has confirmed that a hard subsurface layer at its far-northern site contains water-ice. Determining whether that ice ever thaws would help answer whether the environment there has been favorable for life, a key aim of the mission.

The Phoenix mission, originally planned for three months on Mars, now is in its fifth month. However, it faces a decline in solar energy that is expected to curtail and then end the lander's activities before the end of the year. Before power ceases, the Phoenix team will attempt to activate a microphone on the lander to possibly capture sounds on Mars. "For nearly three months after landing, the sun never went below the horizon at our landing site." said Barry Goldstein, JPL Phoenix project manager. "Now it is gone for more than four hours each night, and the output from our solar panels is dropping each week. Before the end of October, there won't be enough energy to keep using the robotic arm."

For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/phoenix.

Mon Sep 29 18:10:00 CDT 2008