Lord of the Web

Gone are the days of trying to find traces of water on Mars. Scientists from NASA said today that its instruments on the Red Planet have detected falling snow. While the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circling the red planet, the Phoenix Mars Lander has been on the northern pole of the planet for several months now, testing the Martian surface for any materials that could support or could have supported life. The orbiter has sent back pictures of some old fractures in the planet’s surface, and trails of ancient waterways.

NASA Scientists have now added to that mounting list of scientific Martian discoveries with evidence of falling snow. In a press conference , NASA officials said that a laser instrument on the lander has been taking readings of the Mars atmosphere and recently detected snow falling from clouds about 2.5 miles above the planet’s surface. The snow, however, is evaporating before reaching the ground.

NASA also said that recent soil experiments onboard the lander found the presence of calcium carbonate — a main ingredient in chalk — and clay. Both are formed with liquid water. This further goes on to establish the past July report that had concluded that the Red Planet was once awash in water. Scientists reported finding evidence of a system of river channels that flowed into a crater lake slightly larger than Lake Tahoe in California. The orbiter sent back information showing that water was on Mars as far back as 4.6 billion to 3.8 billion years ago — a period corresponding to the earliest years of the solar system.