Mars soil much like Earth’s

WASHINGTON – Early results from the first ever “wet” chemical analysis of the surface soil of Mars show the planet harbors many of the nutrients needed for life and none of the acidity that some feared would make life highly unlikely.

“There’s nothing about it that would preclude life. In fact, it seems very friendly,” said mission scientist Samuel Kounaves of Tufts University. “We were flabbergasted.”

Kounaves said the soil was similar to what people would find in their backyards on Earth and that, if organic material was added, “you could probably grow asparagus but not strawberries.”

Carbon-based organic material, however, has not been found and may be impossible to detect with the equipment now on Mars. The Viking missions to Mars in the 1970s also failed to find evidence of carbon.

The new findings come from the suite of chemistry labs on the Phoenix lander that has been digging up soil from the northern polar area of Mars since it touched down late last month.

In the wet lab experiments – the first ever conducted beyond Earth – the lander’s analyzers moisten the soil samples and then superheat them to the point that the component elements can be analyzed, Kounaves said. The researchers hope to do similar tests on subsurface ice samples the Phoenix has yet to collect.

The chemicals identified by the instruments included magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride.