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NASA says liquid confirmed on Saturn’s moon Titan

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — At least one of many large, lake-like features on Saturn’s moon Titan studied by the international Cassini spacecraft contains liquid hydrocarbons, making it the only body in the solar system besides Earth known to have liquid on its surface, NASA said Wednesday.

Scientists positively identified the presence of ethane, according to a statement from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, which manages the Cassini mission exploring Saturn, its rings and moons.

NASA probe confirms water on Mars

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — NASA scientists said Thursday the Phoenix lander exploring Mars had confirmed water on the planet after analysis of a soil sample from the Red planet’s surface.

The discovery was made after the lander’s robotic arm delivered a sample this week to an instrument onboard the lander that identifies vapors through heating samples.

“We have water,” said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the lander’s “oven” Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA.

“We’ve seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted.”