I know I’m a little late on the uptake on this one, but Phoenix recently had some pretty interesting things to say about its local martian soil. Near the beginning of the mission, I mentioned that perhaps NASA wasn’t doing the greatest job of selling the mission to the public, that there weren’t many flashy results coming back and that the report of basaltic soil just wasn’t going to cut it. Well this latest press release has a different feel. Not only have the last few days seen the first ever wet chemistry experiment on another planet, but Phoenix also baked the soil to the highest temperature ever produced off of Earth. The strategy seems to be to produce as many superlatives as possible, and before we know it, Phoenix will be the first mission to ever pat its head and rub its stomach at the same time.
Delivering a soil sample to the wet chemistry experiment.
But alas, some important science was produced in this first-ever wet chemistry experiment. The soil was found to be alkaline (with a pH of 8-9), and salts incorporating magnesium, potassium, sodium, and chlorine were detected. I find the alkalinity of the soil at this site most compelling: a consensus had been emerging recently that the past warm and wet Mars was rather acidic (a finding supported by findings by the Mars Exploration Rovers), but perhaps pH was more localized than previously thought. The elemental findings are also important, showing that the soil could very well support life. (Don’t get too excited: it could very well support life in the future and/or past…chances are pretty low that something is there now.) One intriguing projection is the possibility of a martian greenhouse, a place for future explorers/colonists to grow their food. A greenhouse would raise the temperature of the soil, melting the subsurface ice and providing a substantial water supply. And since the soil appears to be chemically suitable, the idea of a farm on Mars may not be as science fictional as one might think. Let’s just hope that most of the first few waves of colonists are vegetarians.
A picture to commemorate the martian summer solstice.
Those solar panels are already looking pretty dusty. I wonder if that’s caused by all the trenching and scooping, or if its naturally blown onto the platform.
That’s a good point, though a quick search of relevant news stories doesn’t shed any light on the issue (pun intended). Though the long summer days accompanying the solstice must be helping – even if the panels aren’t at full capacity, I would imagine they’re still accumulating plenty of energy. We better start hoping for some MER-like wind storms to clean those off!