2008-12-04 火星也下雪？

NASA scientists report NASA’s Phoenix¹ spacecraft has discovered evidence of past water at its Martian landing site and spotted² falling snow for the first time on Mars. Soil experiments reveal the presence of two minerals known to be formed in liquid water on Earth.

"Phoenix has done a great job in helping³ us expand our understanding of water and climatic processes, and the water drivers in those, in the climate. The significant amount of science data collected by the Phoenix mission will last the science research community for a significant number of years to come. "

A laser instrument aboard the Phoenix recently detected snow falling from clouds, but it disappeared before reaching the ground. Phoenix landed on Mars in May for a three-month mission to study whether the environment could be friendly to microbial life. One of its biggest discoveries so far is confirming the presence of ice on the planet. Scientists think there could have been standing⁴ water at the site in the past, or the ice could have melted and interacted with the minerals. Mars today is cold and dry with no sign of water on the surface, but some scientists believe the planet once was warmer and wetter.

"The water is important. It’s one of the critical elements to sustain life. In our search for life, within the universe, this is a very critical element to understand what the history of that is and Mars is an easy place to get to …"

1 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

2 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。