Vaughan
November 13, 2008 11:56 PM
Stefania Lamacchia
Life for the Phoenix Mars Lander has come to an end, but it brought answers about what’s left roaming on the red planet.
The Phoenix lander began its data collection on May 25. The mission came to a close when the solar powered system was struck by an unexpected dust storm earlier this month.
After nearly six months of scanning the Martian sky with Vaughan company Optech’s laser radar, the results are finally in.
Not only does it snow on Mars, but scientists have found traces of water on the planet’s ice cap that does evaporate back into the atmosphere.
“That was the most pleasing discovery we observed,” said Jim Whiteway, York University professor and lead scientist for the meteorological station on Phoenix.
“We were ready to see snow, so the question then was trying to understand the planet’s water cycle,” he said.
Past research has shown that the now arid planet did, in fact, have liquid water.
The task this time around was to land in an open area away from previous signs of water flow. If new liquid water is found, it brings scientists one step closer in determining the possibility of Martian life forms.
Canada’s mission was to hunt for water — in the form of melting ice — and environmental habitats that would answer the question: Does life exist on Mars?
“Nothing crawled back into land,” Mr. Whiteway said.
He said that this mission was to determine if the northern region of the planet was habitable by analyzing water and soil chemistry. Though the team didn’t spot any creepy crawlers, Mr. Whiteway said scientists have a better understanding of the Martian landscape.
“We have pieces of the puzzle now that will be added to previous and future missions,” he said.
More importantly is the recognition of putting Canada’s stamp on such a significant NASA mission.
“We weren’t really thinking like we were Team Canada, but it does feel good,” Mr. Whiteway said.
He worked on the Phoenix project with a group of Canadian scientists from Dalhousie and the University of Alberta.
The York University professor maintains that Canada has a history of being a leader in space technology. So, a successful homegrown mission is no surprise.
“It was a very difficult project and we managed to do it without any real problems,” he said.
Mr. Whiteway and his team will now spend time analyzing the results and preparing them for publication.
Optech officials could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.