NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Finds Ice?

SO...There is NO universal warming?! Good to know.

Actually, pretty COOL stuff, no pun intended,

I'm still on vacation, which has been extended due to smashing my right hand in car door & now a severe sinus infection...so much for getting away fm stress...

Ha Ha Ha Ha, I have been working on a new blog of our travels, we've had quite a bit of fun 'in spite of' the troubles. I'll explain when I get back & can type better. Thanx for sharing!!

That is fantastic and amazing.
I heard something about a glitch...did they solve the problem? The item I saw said they knew what it was and how to fix it.

Sorry to hear about your hand!! Get better fast.

There should be all sorts of ice there. After all, it's the North Pole!

I am sorry to hear about your hand and your sinus infection. I hope you get well soon and are able to give an account of yours travels at your site.

Thanks for stopping by.

I thought I heard after lunch today that they got it fixed. I'm not sure though.

But if there is ice there, we could set up a "station" there. This sure looks promising.

As my daughter would say, "That's bad!" (North Pole indeed.)

That we could find ice in Mars, now, if we could only find intelligetn life in Congress...

Thanks again for stopping by my blog! It is always a treat to get some feedback on the parodies! I appreciate it so much!

I read your articles to catch up on your site too, but I'm only responding once (I hope that's okay)

The Mars pix are so cool. Isn't it amazing how technologically advanced we are and we still cannot seem to get a simple concept like, what is the appropriate way to select a candidate for POTUS correct?

I especially liked your Redneck Reasons to vote for Obama. Have you ever seen Jeff Dunham? I love LOVE his puppet Achmed the Terrorist. I absolutely cry with laughter at it. You can find him on youtube in case you need a smile.

All good posts! ( just catchin up)

Yes it's quite a feat of technology to have done this. Scientist think their best hope of finding signs of life lie within water. Landing right on top of the frozen stuff is a super bonus. If they do find a form of life. It will probably upset our entire world by causing everyone to re-think the origins of life.

...just wonder if I'll see us land there in my lifetime. I doubt it.
Yes, I've decided to hang in at least until the election in November. In some diminished capacity. Not as many posts.

But I do have a new one. Stop by. DD

Ha! More likely to find intelligent life on Mars than on Capital Hill. Maybe we should send a rover there.

Makes me proud to be an engineer! (Even though I had absolutely no part in any of this...)
Just getting the thing up from here and down there is amazing. Then to possibly find water and ice is a huge bonus.

Of course, NASA has turned into such a bureaucracy lately, it'll be after my lifetime before a person sets foot there.

Dear Gray Ghost: MARS' North Pole. I didn't expect to see Santa's Factory! Seriously, though- the water should be there in abundance. Because of Mars' low air pressure, it can only exist as ice or vapor on the surface... never as a liquid. Therefore, the dust coats the poles during the summer, vapor re-freezes in winter and the result is the expected layering effect. The big question is, just how much is still present at the poles and in the permafrost since Mars underwent "rust-out"? Hopefully, Phoenix will give us an idea.

That they'll find the cause of Mar's Global Warming spell? Maybe Marvin the Martian running around in his SUV, blasting things with his Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator?

They can charge him a load of carbon credits, and then skip town for Earth.

"This makes me so angry, very angry indeed."

In all this political chaos its nice to see people working together and doing a great job. Does finding water give any indication of life? The Chicoms are aiming at Mars. Given their environmental record they'll have the air brown and the ice poisonous in no time.

I think we have a better chance of finding intelligent life on Mars than in Congress. (Please look at the last 30 years of energy policy for a start!)

Thanks for stopping by.

I will check out Jeff Dunham (on YouTube) today.

It will shake up the scientific world if life is found.

Personally, I don't hold much hope of that. But I do believe that the discovery of large amounts of water in any form makes Mars a prime candidate for a "colony".

I am glad you decided to "hang on" until the election. (Will be over there today.)

I also believe that this election will have a great effect on whether we land on Mars (in yours and my life time) and set up a colony there.

With O'Vomit, I doubt it.

Why send an expensive "rover"? An Abrams tank would be less expensive and do a better job of finding intelligent life in Congress.

"Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator" (!!!!)

Thanks for the laugh. I forgot all about that device until you mentioned it.

Where is Duck Dodgers (of the 25th and 1/2 century) when you need him?

Yes, it is similar to the days of the Mercury Program; except the Far Left says it is a waste of money (and could be better spent on social programs).

I really don't expect to find life (but what do I know). However, large amounts of water means a colony could be set up there very easily.

I don't believe the Chicoms are even ready to do much more than orbit the earth (i.e., they are 40 years behind, even with Bill Clinton selling them alot of our technology).

"The big question is, just how much is still present at the poles and in the permafrost since Mars underwent "rust-out"? Hopefully, Phoenix will give us an idea."

The "layering" effect you mentioned could mean that a large amount of water has been protected at the polar regions. This is good news! It would mean that water and O2 are available for a colony.

Techniques we have learned at Antartica (building construction, plant growing, etc.) would be very useful.

LOL at y'alls comments about intelligent life in Congress.

What a great publicity stunt it would be to build a spaceship display and have a rally at the capitol around it. Have everyone at the rally made to look like an astronaut.

When the press arrives to enquire what the hell is going on, tell them we're here looking for intelligent life.

on making the top 10!!! Blogs on TH!

I don't think I will be able to stay there long; there are too many really good blogs at TH (like yours).

I just got lucky with some articles.

Dear Gray Ghost:

Every so often, Mars has a huge, planet-wide dust storm that carries debris over to both poles. That results in the "layering" effect I mentioned. The "rust-out" happened when Mars' interior cooled to the point where the core couldn't generate a geomagnetic field to protect the atmosphere anymore.

Gradually, the air was stripped away by the "solar wind" until, at last, the pressure was so low that water couldn't exist as a liquid on the surface. The surface got colder, the water either froze at the poles, went into subsurface permafrost or was disassociated by solar ultraviolet; the hydrogen escaping into space and the oxygen combining with iron in the surface rocks. Rust-out. Volcanism became sporadic, tectonism shut down... and Mars went dormant.

But not quite dead. It CAN be reversed. Mars is, essentially, a failed Earth. A little human intervention can get it up and running again. Just how quickly and easily that can be accomplished is in direct proportion to how much water yet remains on Mars. Maybe Phoenix can give us an idea along those lines.

We may yet see canals on Mars. We'll dig 'em!

That would be something. John Carter Warlord of Barsoom would be proud.