It’s snowing on Mars! And not only that – right underneath the red dust is the equivalent of “a skating rink.” Get your mittens on!
Why has this story been so under-reported?
“Nothing like this has ever been seen on Mars,” said Jim Whiteway, the lead scientist for the Canadian-designed Meteorological Station aboard the Phoenix lander. In coming weeks, he said, scientists will be searching for evidence that the snow actually falls on the ground.
Even before Phoenix landed, scientists knew water-ice, along with ice made of carbon dioxide, accumulated on the ground in the northern latitudes during the harsh winter, when temperatures plunge to minus 184 degrees Fahrenheit.* But the discovery of snow in the atmosphere above the pole was a surprise.”
Credit crunch schmedit crunch.
Click here if you want more science.
* You’ll be needing those mittens then.
1 Comment
October 12, 2008 at 1:26 am
And before you can say apres ski, there’ll be little chalets and chairlifts popping up all over it.
xxx
Pants