NASA mission finds conclusive proof of water on Mars

NASA mission finds conclusive proof of water on Mars WASHINGTON, August 1, 2008: - The Phoenix Mars lander mission has found the first clear sample of water ice, confirming the possibility that life may have formed on the Red Planet, NASA said. "We've now finally touched it and tasted it," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, who directs a sensitive instrument aboard the Phoenix called TEGA. "From my standpoint, it tastes very fine." The lander's Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer detected frozen water in a soil sample scooped and analyzed this week, he said Thursday at a news conference in Tucson. The first load of ice amounted to about 3 cubic centimeters, about enough to fill a teaspoon. At a news conference Thursday, Michael Meyer, chief scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, announced another five weeks had been added to the Phoenix mission. It had originally been approved for 90 days. "Phoenix is healthy and the projections for solar power look good, so we want to take full advantage of having this resource in one of the most interesting locations on Mars," Meyer said. "With that, what I'd like to do is announce that we're going to extend the mission to go till the end of the fiscal year [September 30]," he said. The lander arrived on Mars on May 25 and was in the 67th Earth day of its mission Thursday.