NASA Observations Point to 'Dry Ice' Snowfall On Mars

[azurnoir]

Reconnaissance Orbiter data have given scientists the clearest evidence yet of carbon-dioxide snowfalls on Mars. This reveals the only known example of carbon-dioxide snow falling anywhere in our solar system.

Frozen carbon dioxide, better known as "dry ice," requires temperatures of about minus 193 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 125 Celsius), which is much colder than needed for freezing water. Carbon-dioxide snow reminds scientists that although some parts of Mars may look quite Earth-like, the Red Planet is very different. The report is being published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

"These are the first definitive detections of carbon-dioxide snow clouds," said the report's lead author, Paul Hayne of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "We firmly establish the clouds are composed of carbon dioxide -- flakes of Martian air -- and they are thick enough to result in snowfall accumulation at the surface."

The snowfalls occurred from clouds around the Red Planet's south pole in winter. The presence of carbon-dioxide ice in Mars' seasonal and residual southern polar caps has been known for decades. Also, NASA's Phoenix Lander mission in 2008 observed falling water-ice snow

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120911150857.htm

[LiberalEsto]

1. "Oh the weather outside is frightful..."

but Mars is so delightful
and since our unmanned probes have no place to go,
let it dry-ice snow, let it6 dry-ice snow, let it dry-ice snow

[Soylent Brice]

3. perfect!

:ROFL:

[Xipe Totec]

2. I really don't know clouds

at all....