Lander Found Ice on Mars, Scientists Say

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Scientists believe NASA's Phoenix Mars lander exposed bits of ice while recently digging a trench in the soil of the Martian arctic. Crumbs of bright material initially photographed in the trench later vanished, meaning they must have been frozen water that vaporized after being exposed. These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice - There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can't do that. Phoenix Mars is studying whether the arctic region of the Red Planet could be habitable. The probe is using its robotic arm to dig up soil samples, and scientists hope it will find frozen water. However, an initial soil sample heated in a science instrument failed to yield evidence of water. The bright material was seen in the bottom of a trench dubbed "Dodo-Goldilocks" that Phoenix enlarged on June 15. Several of the bright crumbs were gone when the spacecraft looked into the trench again early Thursday, NASA said. Phoenix's arm, meanwhile, encountered a hard surface while digging another trench Thursday and scientists were hopeful of uncovering an icy layer, the space agency said. That trench is called "Snow White 2." The arm went into a "holding position" after three attempts to dig further, which is expected when it the reaches a hard surface, NASA said.