In a dramatic new development, laboratory tests aboard National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified the presence of water in a soil sample collected from the Martian surface.
The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample on July 30 to an instrument that identifies vapours produced by the heating of samples.
Image: Combining more than 400 images taken during the first weeks after the Phoenix arrived on the Red planet's arctic plain gave scientists this view of Mars. This view comprises more than 100 different camera pointings, with images taken through three different filters at each pointing.
Text: ANI | Photograph: Courtesy NASA
Also see: NASA@50 - From Moon to Mars & Beyond