Comments on: Ice! Ice I say! IIICCCEEEEE!!!

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:42:59 +0000

That was my question as well, eddie

By: eddie

eddie — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 05:15:37 +0000

If there's ice, there is waterEveryone knows there's frozen carbon dioxide on mars, since the first landings decades ago. How do they distinguish between that and frozen h2o?

By: themadlolscientist

themadlolscientist — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:53:30 +0000

No foot-dragging, just a set of unforeseen circumstances. They had wanted to do the testing on fine-grained soil, but they thought it would be dry like moondust. There were problems with the Martian soil being too "clumpy" to sift through the screens that were in place.Finally they managed to shake some soil into one of the ovens, but they said any water (which they think may have been present as ice and caused the soil to stick together) had probably sublimed out.Since then, they've developed a way of sprinkling the soil in using the lander's robot arm.And didn't they get all excited and nearly wet their pants when they first saw the pictures above, and announce to the world: "HEY, WE THINK WE'VE FOUND ICE!!!"? Trust me, when NASA finds something like that, as often as not they holler about it before they've figured it out.See the University of Arizona's official Phoenix website for breaking news and photos as well as descriptions of the mission and experimental equipment.

By: Ron Hager

Ron Hager — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 02:18:34 +0000

I am concerned with the way NASA is going about this mission. It seems to me that the average American needs lots of evidence and watching ice melt simply will not be enough to get them as excited as the rest of us. NASA seems to be dragging their feet in doing the tests necessary to confirm that water is present. Is this due to a malfunction of TEGA? Are they dragging this out to create suspense and greater interest with the American public? Does the series of “minor” issues with equipment and software indicate planning and preparation was not adequately funded?

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:28:57 +0000

Hasn’t anyone read The Quest for Right? The book proves scientifically that there cannot be any extraterrestrial water. Follow the money trail and you will discover why NASA is supposedly finding water everywhere. NASA is obsessed with proving that evolution occurred. Hence, take any news release with a grain of salt.

By: themadlolscientist

themadlolscientist — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:13:19 +0000

Ice! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!eleven!!!1! Break out the tequila and let’s celebrate with a round of frozen Marsaritas!

By: llewelly

llewelly — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:10:48 +0000

Meanwhile, space probes are looking at Earth, and seeing less and less ice ... .

By: Serena

Serena — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:37:52 +0000

I couldn’t have said it better myself, “There cold be life.” Tee hee!