Weather, Dust Idle Martian Lander

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a_TQB5VEpP0o

“Weather, Dust Idle Martian Lander”- the Plain Dealer

This newspaper article is about the solar-powered Phoenix Lander, which searched for life on Mars for 5 months. The Phoenix Lander—a golf-cart-sized probe which cost $475 million to build and send to Mars—discovered ice beneath the terrain, confirming theories that water exists there in some form. Phoenix also performed tests that showed that the alkaline soil could support some plant life if heat, water and sunlight were provided. The soil was further tested for trace chemicals that are the building blocks of life.

I found this article interesting, because it shows the advancing technology used in space. Phoenix was able to detect the basic element of water and search for previous signs of life on the planet.