[Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute]
Droplets of what appeared to be liquid water were spotted on one of the Mars Phoenix Lander’s legs as it landed on May 25th, 2008. These putative water droplets seemed to grow over the next few weeks in a manner consistent with condensation. It is thought that perhaps the concentration of perchlorate salts is sufficiently high to prevent freezing and sublimation of the water on Mars where temperatures never exceeded -20°C at the Phoenix landing site. Unfortunately, researchers doubt life could be sustained in water with such a high salt concentration (at least, not life as we know it) even with an exceedingly low freezing point of -70°C. It is possible that pockets of this highly concentrated saline water exist just beneath the surface of Mars. Details of this amazing discovery will be presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas.
I first entered the field of astrobiology in 2002 as a student at the Pennsylvania State University, where I studied under J. Greg Ferry, Donald Bryant and Hiroshi Ohmoto. In 2005, I left Penn State for the laboratory of Jack Szostak at Harvard University before moving on two-and-a-half years later to start my own company, the Atlantis Astrobiology Research Institute (est. April 16, 2008). I am currently attending the University of Wisconsin as a NASA Astrobiology Institute PhD student in the department of Geology and Geophysics (under Dr. Nita Sahai). After graduation, I hope to complete my post-doctoral training at a NASA center and ultimately, create a proper research laboratory (for AARI) and an astrobiology museum in my home town of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
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