apod
06-21-08, 12:50 PM
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0806/sol020_024_change_v3c800.jpg (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0806/sol020_024_change_v3.jpg) Vanishing Act
Phoenix MissionTeam (http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/index.php),NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/),JPL-Caltech (http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/), U. Arizona (http://mars.arizona.edu/),Texas A&M University (http://geosciences.tamu.edu/)
Explanation: Compare these two (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/images/press/sol_020_024_change_dodo_v3.html) close-uppictures taken on sol 20 (left) and sol 24 ofa trench dug in the Martian surface by NASA'sPhoenix Lander (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080615.html).Those sols of the Phoenix Mission(a sol (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040109.html) is a Martian day),correspond to June 15 and 18 on planet Earth.Light-colored, dice-sized chunks, visible in the lower left shadow regionof the trench in the sol 20 imagehave vanished by sol 24 (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080619.html) --a strong indication that the chunks were ice uncoveredby digging the shallow trench.The vanishing act likely demonstrates thesublimation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(chemistry)) of ice in thetrench, a process similar to evaporation, in which the ice went directlyfrom solid to gas after it wasexposed (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080612.html) to sunlight and the thin, dryMartian atmosphere (http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/exploration/phoenix.asp).
Source (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080621.html)
Phoenix MissionTeam (http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/index.php),NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/),JPL-Caltech (http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/), U. Arizona (http://mars.arizona.edu/),Texas A&M University (http://geosciences.tamu.edu/)
Explanation: Compare these two (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/images/press/sol_020_024_change_dodo_v3.html) close-uppictures taken on sol 20 (left) and sol 24 ofa trench dug in the Martian surface by NASA'sPhoenix Lander (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080615.html).Those sols of the Phoenix Mission(a sol (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040109.html) is a Martian day),correspond to June 15 and 18 on planet Earth.Light-colored, dice-sized chunks, visible in the lower left shadow regionof the trench in the sol 20 imagehave vanished by sol 24 (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080619.html) --a strong indication that the chunks were ice uncoveredby digging the shallow trench.The vanishing act likely demonstrates thesublimation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(chemistry)) of ice in thetrench, a process similar to evaporation, in which the ice went directlyfrom solid to gas after it wasexposed (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080612.html) to sunlight and the thin, dryMartian atmosphere (http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/exploration/phoenix.asp).
Source (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080621.html)