NASA probe sends first pictures from Martian arctic

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

WASHINGTON, (AFP) — A NASA probe sent back never-before-seen pictures of Mars' north pole Monday, in the most ambitious mission to date to find life-sustaining minerals on the Red Planet.

After NASA's Phoenix Mars probe made a near perfect landing at the Martian polar region late Sunday, scientists pored over images revealing a desolate frozen tundra.

"We can see cracks in the troughs that make us think the ice is still modifying the surface," said Peter Smith, a lead scientist on the project. "We see fresh cracks. Cracks can't be old. They would fill in," he said.

Scientists said they were also excited about the images taken by the probe during its descent late Sunday into the atmosphere of the Red Planet.

"I'm floored. I'm absolutely floored," said...