A spacecraft orbiting Mars has discovered carbon dioxide snow falling from clouds on the extra terrestrial planet. The snow was detected falling on the planet’s south pole during the Martian winter of 2006 – 2007. The Red Planet holds frozen carbon dioxide (think dry ice) year round. Dry ice requires temperatures of about minus 193 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 125 Celsius) to fall, reinforcing just how cold the Martian surface is.
This however is not the only ice that has been discovered on the Martian Planet. In 2008, NASA’s Phoenix Lander found “normal” water based ice on the planet’s north pole.
More information on this latest discovery will be published in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research.
