Yesterday NASA announced that for the first time water in another planet had been probed and analyzed by a man made craft. The Phoenix landed on a mission to search for water, among other things and it has successfully proven water does exist on Mars.The image on the top right corner indicates some traces of ice and 4 martian days later (1 Sol is 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds long) and traces of ice have disappeared due to evaporation.
The Phoenix has not discovered organic compounds whatsoever but the mission has been extended five more weeks with a cost of 2 million dollars.
The area Phoenix landed was chosen because studies indicated deposits of ice could be found. Phoenix landed on a solid layer of ice covered only by a few inches of soil. This finding could accelerate a mission to colonize Mars as an essential element to survive is already there: water. Now the search for life, or its remains, continues.
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