Water! Cool, Clear Water!

Well, well, well… what’s all this then, eh? The three pictures shown above were snapped by the Phoenix Lander on the surface of Mars, the planet they’ve been telling us is colder than a witch’s tit and dry as a bone…

Of course we Mars loonies have been spotting liquid standing water for ages now… in lakes even… and our august agency’s own instrumentation regularly records temperatures conducive to a nice day out. They leave that last bit out, of course. (Hopefully I can find the link for it)

I’ve never been too strong on the idea of NASA ever really disclosing anything striking to us in a timely fashion… if ever… considering the sums they’ve invested since day 1 in airbrushing photos of anything of interest, halting radio and television transmissions, making the Mars photos red (which really ticks me off) and such… fortunately things get missed… but… if this keeps up, maybe it’s a sign that they really will let it all out someday.

We can only hope. I’m of the opinion that we come from there, ’round about the time when things got nasty up there… could that be why? I kind of doubt it, but there are strange, archaic policies in place, so it might be a consideration.

Anyhow, I think this a most wonderful development and look forward to more! Hey, do ya think they’re aimin’ to live down the epithet Never A Straight Answer? Ha!

Pic and below lifted from National Geographic…

Liquid droplets seem to form and move on the leg of the Phoenix Mars lander, as seen in images taken on days 8, 31, and 44 (seen above from left to right) of the craft’s mission.

Scientists think the water could stay liquid even in the frigid Martian arctic because of its high concentration of perchlorates, salts that acts like antifreeze.

Images courtesy Image NASA/JPL-Caltech//University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute