High-res camera snaps water ice on Mars

High-res camera snaps water ice on Mars
Published: Aug. 27, 2010 at 7:05 PM

TUCSON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A NASA spacecraft with a high-resolution camera has photographed a young Mars crater and found frozen water in it, scientists say.

A recent image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE camera shows water ice at the bottom of a 20-foot-wide crater on the planet's surface, SPACE.com reported Friday.

Researchers suspect the crater in the northern hemisphere formed recently, no earlier than April 2004, Nathan Bridges, a HiRISE science team member at the University of Arizona, said.

The crater appeared in photos taken between June 6 and July 7.

"It's showing we're getting ice pretty far south," Bridges said. "As we continue to look at these things it's a good way to determine where shallow ice is on Mars."

More:
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/08/27/High-res-camera-snaps-water-ice-on-Mars/UPI-88301282950325/

:think:

awesome

Did we just stumble upon a good place for a manned Mars facility?