Phoenix has Found Something More Compelling than Water

am i correct in thinking that this is the first time martian soil samples have been mixed with water as an experiment? i cant find anything on the other landers that suggests this has been done before.

Got me thinking... what if something, for want of a better word, hatched? bacterial or fungal spores, algae? some of those cool little water bears?

www.nasa.gov...

NASA Spacecraft Analyzing Martian Soil Data


WASHINGTON -- Scientists are analyzing results from soil samples delivered several weeks ago to science instruments on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander to understand the landing site's soil chemistry and mineralogy.

Within the last month, two samples have been analyzed by the Wet Chemistry Lab of the spacecraft's Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer, or MECA, suggesting one of the soil constituents may be perchlorate, a highly oxidizing substance. The Phoenix team has been waiting for complementary results from the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA, which also is capable of detecting perchlorate. TEGA is a series of ovens and analyzers that "sniff" vapors released from substances in a sample.

/snip

Confirmation of the presence of perchlorate and supporting data is important prior to scientific peer review and subsequent public announcements. The results from Sunday's TEGA experiment, which analyzed a sample taken directly above the ice layer, found no evidence of this compound.

/snip

"This is surprising since an earlier TEGA measurement of surface materials was consistent with but not conclusive of the presence of perchlorate," said Peter Smith, Phoenix's principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

Scientists at the Phoenix Science Operations Center at the University of Arizona, Tucson, are specifically looking at the data from these instruments to provide information on the composition of Martian soil.

"We are committed to following a rigorous scientific process. While we have not completed our process on these soil samples, we have very interesting intermediate results," said Smith, "Initial MECA analyses suggested Earth-like soil. Further analysis has revealed un-Earthlike aspects of the soil chemistry."

[edit on 4-8-2008 by sardion2000]

Well, this 'news' has now made it to the BBC:
news.bbc.co.uk...
Being paranoid, this whole 'we promise to be open with our findings' statement just makes me more suspicious! Indeed, there is no pleasing me!

Oh, yes ... Hello, this is my first post!

reply to post by Bluebird007


news.bbc.co.uk...

..... and here's today's addition from the BBC.