It is snowing on Mars

Nasa’s Mars explorer, Phoenix has detected snow falling from Martian clouds and further experiments on soil have provided the evidence of interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth. The snow spoted by Phoenix was coming from clouds about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) above the landing site and data analysis shows that the snow was vaporizing before reaching the ground.
Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars. We’ll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground” ( Jim Whiteway, of York University, Toronto, lead scientist for the Canadian-supplied Meteorological Station on Phoenix ).

Phoenix also has some clues pointing to calcium carbonate, the main composition of chalk, and particles that could be clay. Most carbonates and clays on Earth form only in the presence of liquid water.
“We are still collecting data and have lots of analysis ahead, but we are making good progress on the big questions we set out for ourselves,” (Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson).

Since its landing on May 25, Phoenix already has discovered water-ice  in the far-northern regions.
“We have found carbonate.This points toward episodes of interaction with water in the past.” ( William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the TEGA )
The Phoenix days are numbered as it faces a decline in solar energy that is expected to curtail and then end the lander’s activities before the end of the year.

“For nearly three months after landing, the sun never went below the horizon at our landing site. Now it is gone for more than four hours each night, and the output from our solar panels is dropping each week. Before the end of October, there won’t be enough energy to keep using the robotic arm” (Barry Goldstein, JPL Phoenix project manager).

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