Perchlorates may keep Mars running with water

[n2doc]

18 February 2009 by David Shiga

THERE'S nothing like a little antifreeze to thaw out a frozen planet. Thanks to chemicals called perchlorates, liquid water may play a bigger role on Mars than expected, which is good news for the search for life.

Last year, NASA's Phoenix lander team announced the unexpected discovery on Mars of perchlorates - compounds containing an atom of chlorine bound to four oxygen atoms. Relatively sparse on Earth, they turn out to be abundant on Mars, forming 1 per cent of the soil tasted by Phoenix.

The initial excitement focused on whether Martian microorganisms could use perchlorates as food, as some Earth microbes do. That remains possible, but now it's emerging that perchlorates could have far-reaching consequences on Mars for another reason: their ability to keep water liquid far below 0 °C.

The Phoenix measurements could not distinguish between different kinds of perchlorates, but the most likely candidates are magnesium and sodium perchlorate, based on the abundance of magnesium and sodium ions that Phoenix detected. Concentrated solutions of these salts can stay liquid down to -72 °C and -37 °C respectively.

more:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126965.000-natural-antifreeze-may-keep-mars-running-with-water.html

Remember last year when there was a big to-do about the finding of perchlorates? This is one of the consequences....

Also

First liquid water may have been spotted on Mars

01:16 18 February 2009 by David Shiga

NASA's Phoenix lander may have captured the first images of liquid water on Mars - droplets that apparently splashed onto the spacecraft's leg during landing, according to some members of the Phoenix team.

The controversial observation could be explained by the mission's previous discovery of perchlorate salts in the soil, since the salts can keep water liquid at sub-zero temperatures. Researchers say this antifreeze effect makes it possible for liquid water to be widespread just below the surface of Mars, but point out that even if it is there, it may be too salty to support life as we know it.

A few days after Phoenix landed on 25 May 2008, it sent back an image showing mysterious splotches of material attached to one of its legs. Strangely, the splotches grew in size over the next few weeks, and Phoenix scientists have been debating the origin of the objects ever since.

One intriguing possibility is that they were droplets of salty water that grew by absorbing water vapour from the atmosphere. Arguments for this idea are laid out in a study by Phoenix team member Nilton Renno of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and co-authored by 21 other researchers, including the mission's chief scientist, Peter Smith of the University of Arizona in Tucson. The study (pdf) will be presented in March at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16620-first-liquid-water-may-have-been-spotted-on-mars.html


Clumps on one of Phoenix's legs were observed to grow over time (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute)

[DCKit]

1. Percholrates: Not so Rare on Earth

Otherwise, why would the * maladministration try to manipulate the EPA rules on perchlorate contamination of groundwater?

[Johonny]

2. The more solid rocket motor NASA builds

the less rare it gets.