Is there ice on Mars?

The white objects on Mars are ice or salt? It was a question that haunted scientists for the past three weeks since the Phoenix probe began digging into the land at the northernmost tip of the Red Planet.

According to the AP, the photos of the Phoenix ship recently returned to Earth show a strange strip of white objects exposed from a large groove dug up by Phoenix's robot arm. This light-colored object is only available at the top of the groove, indicating that it is not the material that makes up the entire area to be explored.

Phuong Hoang will take photos of this groove in the next few days to record changes if any. If that is indeed ice, scientists hope it will sublimate - the phenomenon of matter moving from solid to gaseous without liquid - because the temperature in the Red Planet is very cold and air pressure low. "We believe it is ice. But wait until it disappears to confirm," said Ray Arvidson, who oversees the Phoenix mission at Washington University.

The white mass on Mars could be ice, maybe just salt.(Photo: NASA)

Scientists are not yet happy because last week's experimental results showed no steam escaping when heating the Martian soil sample with an experimental furnace inside the Phoenix. The team plans to re-do the experiment this week with a higher adjusted furnace temperature.

If this white object is salt and not ice, then this will also be an important finding, because normally salt only forms when water evaporates. That proves that the hypothesis that Mars has water is correct.

Phuong Hoang landed on the Martian Arctic area on May 25 to carry out a three-month mission worth $ 420 million. The ship's main mission is to dig down the ice below, which is believed to be only a few centimeters away from the Martian surface, to understand the habitat on this planet.