Mysteries of Mars

In 1909, Robert Peary and Matthew Henson became the first people to reach the North Pole. If you think that was tough, how about visiting the North Pole - on Mars? NASA hopes to visit the Martian arctic as their Phoenix Mars Mission closes in on the Red Planet.

THE MARTIAN ARCTIC

A fleet of satellites has provided the sharpest images of the Mars' north pole. The ice in this dynamic and alien environment grows and shrinks through the years. The latest data allow viewers to hover above the frozen plains and red soil of Mars. While the ice on Mars is not exactly the same as ice on Earth, astronomers are finding signs of frozen water on the surface and in the floor of one crater. Combined with the evidence gathered from the Mars rovers, the Red Planet may have once been considerably bluer.

FOLLOW THE WATER

Where there is water on Earth, there is life. Even in the most extreme environments, under tons of snow and ice, life manages to thrive. Could there be life on Mars? The Phoenix mission aims to land about 70 degrees north latitude. Although not quite on the planet's north pole, the Phoenix landing spot will be on a previously viewed reservoir of ice near the surface of Mars. What will it find? Tune in this summer when the Phoenix touches down.
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Will a human ever stand on the pole of another planet? Since you can't visit yet, this is a great month to view Mars from Earth. Just look to the east-northeast after 8 p.m. and you will see it as a bright red "star." Through a large telescope you can just barely make out the polar ice caps of Mars and begin dreaming of the frozen north.

Dean Regas is the Outreach Astronomer at the Cincinnati Observatory. He can be reached at deanobservatory@zoomtown.com

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