Figure 11-39: R I V U X G
Water Revealed by Recent Impacts A fresh impact observed in 2008 revealed water-ice. The small crater is only 6 meters wide and shows that ice is just beneath the Martian surface about halfway between the north pole and the equator. A spectrum taken of the white material shows that it is water, and not carbon dioxide. By January 2009, several months later, the water had evaporated. Quite surprisingly, the white material is 99% pure water; a mixture with about 50% dirt was expected, and this remains a mystery.
Water Revealed by Recent Impacts A fresh impact observed in 2008 revealed water-ice. The small crater is only 6 meters wide and shows that ice is just beneath the Martian surface about halfway between the north pole and the equator. A spectrum taken of the white material shows that it is water, and not carbon dioxide. By January 2009, several months later, the water had evaporated. Quite surprisingly, the white material is 99% pure water; a mixture with about 50% dirt was expected, and this remains a mystery.
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)