PIA10910: Ice on Mars - Now You See It
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Phoenix
 Spacecraft:  Phoenix Mars Lander
 Instrument:  Surface Stereo Imager (SSI)
 Product Size:  512 x 1024 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  University of Arizona
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA10910.tif (1.575 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA10910.jpg (104.5 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

Click here for high resolution tiff of PIA10910 Saturn's Long-lived Storm figure 1Click here for high resolution tiff of PIA10910 Figure 2
Figure 1
High resolution tiff
Figure 2
High resolution tiff

This color image was acquired by the Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander on the 21st day of the mission, or Sol 20 (June 15, 2008).

It shows lumps of ice in the lower left corner of a trench nicknamed "Dodo-Goldilocks." These lumps later sublimated, a process similar to evaporation, over the course of four days.

In the lower left corner of the left image of figures 1 and 2, a group of lumps is visible. In the right images, the lumps have disappeared.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

Image Addition Date:
2008-06-23