Snowing on Mars

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PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. Spacecraft soil experiments also have provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth.

A laser instrument designed to gather knowledge of how the atmosphere and surface interact on Mars has detected snow from clouds about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) above the spacecraft's landing site. Data show the snow vaporizing before reaching the ground.

"Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars," said Jim Whiteway, of York University, Toronto, lead scientist for the Canadian-supplied Meteorological Station on Phoenix. "We'll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground."
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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080929.html


Now that's cool! (yeah I know very punny :) )

There's also a good bit of discussion about clay or at least components of clay on detected on Mars in the article.

Note to self:
If I ever get to go there, remember to pack a carrot, top hat, a couple lumps of coal for eyes and sticks for arms...oh, and a pipe. I can't wait for a great Photoshop of a snow covered Mars with a snowman, ala Rockwell. I'd love that for winter wallpaper. :P

Witness the Martian polar ice caps, and the way they shrink and grow in sync with the Martian seasons.

What makes this exciting is that this is the first time we have actually imaged the snow itself.