The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The news out of Mars lately has been so exciting that some scientists started talking about growing vegetables up there. Turns out that’s not going to happen, but discoveries on the Red Planet are telling us much more than we have ever known about Earth’s closest neighbor in the Milky Way galaxy.

Ever since NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander set down in the northern polar region of the planet in late May, scientists have been learning a lot.

The lander’s eight-foot robotic arm scoops up soil, which is then chemically analyzed with techniques being used for the first time.

Found in the northern polar region was water ice, said Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at the Fels Planetarium at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute Science Museum.

That proves, he said, that at one time a great deal of water was on the surface of Mars. Liquid water is a necessary component for life as we know it.

Soil analysis also revealed that Martian dirt has some chemical elements and compounds found in Earth soil that might be beneficial in the growth of such vegetables as radishes and asparagus.

“But unfortunately,” Pitts said, “that has been reinterpreted as meaning that Mars’ soil is able to grow vegetables. It is not able to grow vegetables.”

That’s because no organic material (matter that comes from a recently living thing) has been found on Mars, and without that organic matter, nothing can grow.

Besides, Mars is always being bombarded with deadly ultraviolet radiation that would destroy vegetables, even if they could grow.

Pitts said the lander sends back clear images daily, which are posted at www.nasa.gov. Click on “Missions” at the top of the page and then “Phoenix on Mars.”

“For the first time in history, any kid can go online and see the same thing the scientists are seeing in real time. Wow.”