But Did The Old Farmer's Almanac Weatherman Predict This

Snowfall Seen on Mars

Over the years we have gone from thinking that Mars was much like Earth to discovering that it was anything but in a lot of ways. Still there are a few similarities. Mars does have an atmosphere, mostly CO2, a little water vapor, dust & some other trace gases. Mars is tilted so that as it journeys arround the Sun there are seasonal changes. So, it was only a matter of time before they finally saw it happenning.

The length of a Martian day is just a little longer than that of Earth's. But, because of its further distance from the Sun the year & seasons last longer. This year Mars' Winter will partially coincide with Earth's. & near the North Pole, just like Earth, there is a period where the Sun never rises during the Winter.

Right now that time is approaching & the Phoenix Mars Lander will no longer have solar energy to draw on & it will have to shut down. meanwhile it is still at it.

According to Space.com: "Phoenix's camera and meteorological equipment have shown clouds and fog forming during the night as the air gets colder.
"This is now occurring every night," said Jim Whiteway of York University in Toronto and lead scientist for Phoenix's Meteorological Station.
A laser instrument that is pointed directly up into Mars' atmosphere has also detected snow from clouds about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) above the spacecraft's landing site. Data show the snow vaporizing before reaching the ground. There are no conventional photographs of the snowfall. Scientists knew from previous studies that it snows on Mars. But they've never seen it happening from the ground.
"Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars," Whiteway said. "We'll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground.""

Phoenix has been hard at work since it landed 25 May 2008 in Mars Arctic Circle. Like most probes, it has had its problems. &, as is often the case, there have been some unexpected discoveries. 1 of those has been the soil chemistry. "So far, the chemistry of the surface layers near Phoenix's landing site has been a bit different that anticipated.
TEGA has identified several minerals that suggest that the surface there has interacted with water sometime in the Martian past. These include silicates similar in structure to mica, only softer, and calcium carbonate. Examples of carbonates on Earth are chalk and antacid tablets.
The suite of MECA instruments have shown that the pH of the soil near Phoenix is approximate 8.3 — or slightly basic — "almost exactly the pH of ocean water on Earth," Hecht said.
MECA has also found evidence of perchlorates, which could act as an energy source for any potential past Martian microbes and could have a significant impact on Mars' water chemistry.
For one thing, they could help explain why Phoenix's fork-like probe has found that "the soil in our little corner of Mars is very, very dry," Hecht said. Perchlorate could be soaking up any water in the soil above the ice layer, he explained."

1 other thing they are hoping to do before Winter gets too far along is to turn on Phoenix's microphone. If all goes well, this will be the 1st time we hear what things sound like on Mars.

Like Earth, the Winter at the North Pole is very harsh. & that will take its toll on Phoenix.

"Based on models of Phoenix's energy decline, mission engineers don't expect Phoenix to last much past late November. Eventually, the sun will set on Phoenix completely, and carbon dioxide ice will likely deposit on it. That combined with the ever-decreasing temperatures of winter will likely destroy the spacecrafts components.
"Nobody anticipates that the vehicle will survive that harsh winter," Goldstein said."

Then again, it may surprize us. Probes have done so before.

Either way, we have seen more of the amazing wonders that are a part of God's creation. I don't know if God created any forms of life on Mars. We have seen how varied He made it here on Earth, so it wouldn't be surprizing if there was something on Mars. But, whatever we do find there, it ultimately reflects the infinite glory of God.