NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander has reached new milestones in just 101 Martian days of mission, and not only that, but has also become the witnesses of unexpected phenomena and discoveries that will change what scientists knew about the mysterious Red Planet.

We’ve seen traces of water, we’ve seen water ice, what else was there to see? Perhaps snow wasn’t exactly what scientists had in mind, but it happened! A never before seen phenomena occurred on Mars, and Phoenix was there to see it: snow falling from Martian clouds.

After all of its important breakthrough discoveries took place on the ground, Phoenix’s weather instruments, which are meant to provide information on the atmospheric processes taking place in the Martian arctic region, have managed to detect snow 4 kilometers above the spacecraft’s landing site. However, the snow did not touch the Mars lander, as it evaporated before reaching the ground.

The main challenge for scientists now is to establish whether the snow could also be able to reach the ground. Although the data collection and analysis still continues, this is yet another sign that finding water on Mars was not just a dream.

After receiving the confirmation that there is water ice on Mars, the big challenge now is to find liquid water, and that is something that is quite possible, taking into consideration the fact that in the experiments performed by Phoenix, the presence of calcium carbonate and particles resembling clay pointed to its existence.

The Mars lander identified calcium carbonate in samples taken from trenches it dug with its robotic arm. The analysis from the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) and the Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) came positive for carbonate, which suggested that in the past, interaction with water may have taken place.

 In addition to that, a clay-like substance also turned up in samples analyzed by both TEGA and MECA analyzers. This is yet another proof that Phoenix’s mission is far from being over, and that adding two more months to its mission was not in vain. However, scientists need to hurry up, as the lander seems to have less energy, as its solar panels get less and less sun light.

As JPL Phoenix project manager Barry Goldstein explained, three months after landing, the sun never went below the horizon at the landing site. However, now it is gone for over four hours each night, which means the lander will soon be out of energy, as the output from the solar panels drops on a weekly basis.

Phoenix’s initial mission was of 90 Martian days, the equivalent of 92 Earth days, and started at a site in the northern region of the planet. It was a first for a Mars mission to reach that far north; however, that proved to be a very productive mission, with Phoenix finding water ice in the Martian soil.

Scientists’ greatest hope was to establish whether carbon-based elements are present on the planet, and whether ice ever melts here in response to long-term climate cycles, which would create the basic premises for life on Mars. We still have a long way to go before finding life here, but Phoenix had an incredible 101 Martian days, above all expectations.