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Published online 18 July 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.965
News: Briefing
Waiting for the martian bake-off
After more than a month on Mars, Phoenix is about to analyse its first ice sample.
NASA's Phoenix spacecraft kicked up a cloud of dust during its dramatic landing in Mars's northern plains on 25 May. Its science team kept the drama going, using a scoop to claw through a thin layer of cold soil to reveal the ice that, as suspected, lay beneath.
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Surely "permanent darkness" is metaphorical.
Hi. Can someone tell me if this trip/experiment will be able to test the ice for the presence of extremophiles?
I assume that while there's a good chance Phoenix will shut down completely due to cold, dust, other damage, it might well revive when the sun reappears or is that wrong for some reason related to the instrumentation? If it's funding, let us know. We'll start writing.