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 30 August 2008 01:31 BST

Phoenix finds ice on Mars

Friday, 20 Jun 2008 18:24
The chunks that disappeared were in the bottom left hand corner

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Disappearing material on the surface on Mars has convinced scientists that it must have been ice.

Four days ago dice-sized crumbs of bright material were photographed by the Phoenix Mars lander in a trench that it had dug.

But when the spacecraft looked at the trench today several of the clumps were missing.

"It must be ice," said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona.

"These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice. There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can't do that."

Scientists are also excited as while digging in a different trench the robotic arm on Phoenix connected with a hard surface that they believe could be an icy layer.

While digging, the robotic arm came upon a firm layer and after three attempts to dig further, the arm went into a holding position.

This action is expected when the robotic arm comes upon a hard surface.

Phoenix was launched to the red planet after earlier missions discovered large amounts of subsurface water ice in the northern arctic plain.

Scientists hope the mission will evaluate whether an environment hospitable to microbial life may exist at the ice-soil boundary.
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