Europe's Mars Express identifies water ice on Mars

[GermanDJ]

http://www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM8ZB474OD_0.html

"ESA PR 06-2004. Mars Express, ESA’s first mission to Mars, will reach its final orbit on 28 January. It has already been producing stunning results since its first instrument was switched on, on 5 January. The significance of the first data was emphasised by the scientists at a European press conference today at ESA’s Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany"

(...)

"One of the main targets of the Mars Express mission is to discover the presence of water in one of its chemical states. Through the initial mapping of the South polar cap on 18 January, OMEGA, the combined camera and infrared spectrometer, has already revealed the presence of water ice and carbon dioxide ice."

(...)

"Another exciting experiment was run by the SPICAM instrument (an ultraviolet and infrared spectrometer) during the first star occultation ever made at Mars. It has simultaneously measured the distribution of the ozone and water vapour (...) revealing that there is more water vapour where there is less ozone. "


Nice to see that there really are exciting, positive news coming in at the beginning of a new year. And I'm sure that Opportunity and hopefully also a revived Spirit will bring some spectacular pictures and scientific data from Martian soil ...

[Tommy_Douglas]

1. That's cool...

Forget the moon base George... All the rich people can live on Mars...

[displacedtexan]

2. How will televangelists explain this?

I can't wait for Pat Robertson to enlighten me.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. I don't think water would be hard to explain on Mars

they might have a problem with life.

[jokerman93]

4. With the presence of water...

Just my opinion, but I believe that life and water in the universe may be ubiquitous. Beyond that, I think we have lots of anomylous suprises in store as well. Hey, if you'd never seen or heard of fire, could you imagine that such a thing existed?

Anyway, with the presence of water, indications of life may not be far behind. If not now, then within a few years. I think the fundamentalists should establish a think tank to explore in advance ways to make a smoother religious transition to accepting a little more of consensual reality.

[Heyo]

5. I think...

... finding (and verifying) the existence of even a single microbe that originated on another celestial body besides Earth will so drastically change our worldview, we will be forever changed as the human race... it will be the greatest discovery mankind has ever made in my opinion...

I have a feeling that Mars may be sterile though...

But then again.. imagine if I get provme wrong.

-Heyo