After decades of speculation NASA has discovered that there is ice on the Red Planet. Dice-size crumbs of bright material vanished from inside a trench where they were photographed by NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander four days ago, convincing scientists that the material was frozen water that vaporized after digging exposed it.

The fact is, these little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it’s ice. There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can’t do that.

It is a perfect result for the team who launched the spacecraft on its long voyage nine months ago. The Phoenix is the first spacecraft to land on a polar region on Mars. It has performed well in digging trenches although it has encountered technical problems when attempting to test the soil.

The chunks were left at the bottom of a trench informally called ‘Dodo-Goldilocks’ when Phoenix’s Robotic Arm enlarged that trench on June 15, during the 20th Martian day since landing. Further evidence emerged earlier today after the Robotic Arm connected with a hard surface in a trench labelled ‘Snow White 2′. Scientists hope it is an icy layer. Digging was automatically halted after the scraper hit a hard surface three times.

It lends weight to the suggestion that water from Mars’ ancient past is locked up in a permafrost layer buried close to the planet’s surface [source]