Aug 1 2008I'm Thirsty: Mars Ice Melted, Turned To Water
Remember the post about the Phoenix Lander spotting ice on Mars? Well now the brave little explorer has collected a sample of the stuff and cooked it in a special easy-bake oven it has on board. The result? Water.
"The fact that it melted at zero degrees Celsius leaves very little doubt that it is standard water ice," William Boynton of the University of Arizona said. He said sensors also tested the chemical makeup of the vapor and found the familiar combination of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
HIYO, we have water! And all it took was a little oven, huh? Well I'll get to the bottom of this Montauk Monster business yet. *jamming beast into oven* What do you think, 4 hours at 450⁰?
UPDATE: Mmmm, starting to smell real science-y. Anybody seen the baster?
Existence Of Water On Mars Confirmed [washingtonpost]
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Reader Comments
1. anon - August 1, 2008 9:25 AM
first?
2. White - August 1, 2008 9:32 AM
Well awesome, bout bloody time too.
3. NeverEver - August 1, 2008 9:42 AM
Well folks,here we go. Water on mars,let the adventure begin! : )
4. chaz - August 1, 2008 9:50 AM
its all staged like the apollo landing!!!!!!!! its a fake!!! a fake i tell ya!!!!
5. Uncle Eccoli - August 1, 2008 10:16 AM
If there's anything interesting to be found, I suspect it will be found in the caves. Let's get on with it already.
P.S. Ares sucks. Is that the best the brains can do?
6. Andyman - August 1, 2008 11:53 AM
So who will be the first to come out with Martian bottled water?
7. tmhs - August 1, 2008 12:12 PM
I always thought that we knew there was water ice there.
8. v - August 1, 2008 12:12 PM
That basically means Mars can be terraformed into a new Earth over a large number of years, mostly because we f***ed up our planet so much that we'd actually have to split the population to give earth time to repair itself.
Man, I'm sorry, but when I heard this on the news the other night, I couldn't help but smile.
9. Mother Earth - August 1, 2008 12:13 PM
Find oil you stupid machine, we already have water
10. pimp - August 1, 2008 12:16 PM
first natural gas on titan now water on mars my gosh what next
11. Uncle Eccoli - August 1, 2008 12:20 PM
@8 How would you retain any extra atmosphere you created? Mars has no magnetosphere.
@7 It was always strongly suspected that the white polar caps were water ice. This is news that the stuff seems to be more prolific across larger areas of the surface than it was thought to be.
12. pimp - August 1, 2008 12:27 PM
i think god saying the earth experimint is all most over remember their 360 planets and hundreds of moons to tera farm were 50 years behind schedule that not good
13. pimp - August 1, 2008 12:38 PM
sorry i ment 360 planets that astronomers have found lately
14. The Fonz - August 1, 2008 1:20 PM
@9- im doing double backflips and quadruple LOL's at your comment.
15. JaC - August 1, 2008 1:57 PM
@9 - LOL!
Seriously though, I want to live on Mars. I've wanted off this planet since the last election.
16. Andyman - August 1, 2008 2:06 PM
People tend to forget that Mars is basically a failed Earth.
17. Uncle Eccoli - August 1, 2008 3:31 PM
Earth is a failed Mars.
18. Becca - August 1, 2008 3:46 PM
OMG!!!!!! Ice melts into water!!! In an oven!! OMG! I figured that would have been a pretty much known reaction...
& 15 I agree with you. Let's catch the next space ship to Mars lol
@9 you are hilarious :)
19. pimp - August 1, 2008 3:54 PM
with human will power thay make it right plant enough plants and trees then leave it alone watch the difference you have to be patient
20. The Fonz - August 1, 2008 4:59 PM
hmm becca.. the ice melts into water thing... i think you kinda missed the whole point of what they actually discovered on mars. you anus.
21. tc - August 2, 2008 7:31 PM
I don't understand the bit about 0 celsius being some kind of proof.
The freezing and boiling states of water are related to atmospheric pressure, aren't they?
Either things would be different on Mars, or the definition of 0 celsius is that it is the point at which water stops being ice, in which case we have a truism.
In fact, I would conjecture that it is far more likely to be Martian semen than water.