The first test of Martian ice

After a month of unsuccessful attempts, Mars Lander still managed to place a sample of white matter, like ice, into a module for analyzing materials. The guesses of scientists were fully confirmed - it actually turned out to be ice .

At the beginning of this week, the engineers again found an excellent big ice on the Martian soil and again tried to move it. As before, they did not succeed. Ice just froze to the manipulator. On Wednesday, engineers sent instructions to Mars Lander to assemble other samples, while they themselves brainstormed what to do next. However, they were lucky: among the new samples already in the capacity for analysis turned out to be another such white piece. He was not immediately noticed until he began to melt during the evaporation test (this test is accompanied by heating). The process was abruptly stopped and the ice was subjected to a comprehensive analysis in order to be sure: this is indeed the most ordinary water. And such pieces are scattered across the surface of Mars.

After this grand event, scientists at the Mars Lander control center staged a holiday with lots of champagne and immediately sent an urgent message to NASA, and they reported to the country's leadership. As a result, the US government decided to extend the Phoenix mission for another five weeks, until the end of September. Most likely, then it will be renewed again for another two months. In the end, scientists need to solve an important problem: Mars, which was previously covered by oceans, is it suitable for life now?