Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds -- a clear sign that Martian Winter is approaching. 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.
Comments:
What a pleasant bit of information. The hard science is great but this kind of thing makes me realize Mars as a "place" in real time rather than as a static picture of a monolithic dust ball.<br><br>BTW <i>Santa Claus Conquers the Martians</i> was the first matinee I saw as a kid and I was disappointed in the science. Once a critic, always a critic.<br>-Guy<br>
The truly interesting point here is the mention of calcium carbonate. Most calcium carbonate on earth (i.e. limestone) is biogenic in origin, that is, living creatures produced it. <i>If </i>there is lots more than trace calcite then that <i>may </i>point at past life on Mars.
