Usually the venerable web cam is used for modest, local tasks, like taking deep-in-thought Facebook profile pics, making me-too webcasts, or undercover girl's locker room documentaries. But did you know there's also a web cam circling the Red Planet right now? Called the Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC), the cam is attached to the European Space Agency's Mars Express, and was last used to visually confirm the Beagle lander's separation from the main spacecraft. It was then put into sleep mode, and has been in that state for the past three years. Bo-ring. The ESA folks thought so too, and on a whim they gave the command to wake up back in 2007. It did, and now they want your help processing a year's worth of images.

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NASA just announced that the Phoenix Lander has successfully scooped up a Martian water ice sample and placed it in its oven for scientific analysis. "Mars Odyssey discovered this ice six years ago, but we've now touched it and tasted it, which is something that hasn't been done before," said a scientist at today's press conference. The sample has been dubbed the "Wicked Witch" (because it's meeeelting, meeeelting--get it?) and it will continue to be analysed over the course of the coming weeks as data trickles in. Exciting, exciting stuff from this very successful mission. More details and new hi-res surface images to follow.

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I've always tried to look at jet lag from a more recreational perspective (when else will I rise from sleep wide awake at 3:45 AM?), but what the scientists of the Mars Phoenix Lander mission have to go through makes a 19-hour direct flight to Singapore look like cupcakes. Since Martial Sols are longer than Earth days by 40 minutes, the staff's work schedule effectively skips two time zones every three days to stay on the spacecraft's own schedule. Multiply that over the course of the planned 92-day mission, and you've got some mightily out-of-wack Circadian rhythms on your hands.

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The Mars Phoenix Lander shut its robotic arm down over the weekend, refusing to follow NASA directions after "realising" those actions would have damaged its wrist. NASA programmers had to send new code to bring the arm back to life, and are now augmenting the original code to try and get the task done. Seemingly pleased with the Phoenix's refusal to conform to The Man's rules, NASA representatives described the process as "pretty neat." I think this whole "machines thinking for themselves" thing is only neat until they decide all humans are off their collective asses, and leave them floating in space with no suit. [PC World via Slashdot]

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In a move that's been obvious since the film Barbarella hit the planet, a scientist's research is pointing to the need for sex in space. But it's for a scientific and sensible reason: avoiding frustration on long-term space missions, when crew-members are crammed into a spacecraft, and living in ridiculously close proximity with no possibility of escaping outside for a spot of fresh air.

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When the Mars Phoenix Lander touched down on the Martian soil, discovered water ice and microbe-friendly acidic alkaline soil last month, it was quite a feat--for a human-controlled robot. But what if the robots sent to distant worlds could think for themselves, a la Wall-E and his Apple-esque main squeeze, EVE? NASA's betting on it, and has actually already started work on a "tier-scalable reconnaissance" program that would see armies of small probes exploring the outer reaches of our solar system with minimal human intervention, if any at all. Of course, such self-sufficient robots wouldn't be as cute as Wall-E--they'd actually be large hivemind dirigibles controlling an army of autonomous planet-side probes (think: Rush Limbaugh's radio program)--but nevertheless, the possibility for intergalactic robot love stories has never been closer to reality.

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A team of US and UK scientists have invented a portable scanner that may be useful in the hunt for life on Mars. And it sounds a whole lot like a Star Trek tricorder: it uses a beam of ultraviolet laser light and detects fluorescence from organic molecules, so it works remotely and doesn't damage samples. Under simulated-Mars conditions, they've used it to detect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (found on comets, thought to be building-blocks of life) in masses as small as 1.5 micrograms. Plus they think the tech could be adapted to be rugged and fitted onto a future Mars rover. Just wait for the handheld version, and for an astronaut to start going "widdlywee..." as they stomp around Mars. [Eurekalert via IO9]

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The Big Picture, my favourite new blog to come around in ages, has 17 of the most remarkable high res images from Mars you're likely to see. It includes everything from detailed photos of the surface to photos from above to animations of dust devils, and you've really got to see it. Above is a high-res pic of the Pheonix lander taken about a week ago, where you can clearly see its arm scooping up Martian dirt for analysis. Amazing. Be sure to follow the link to see the other 12 pictures.

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The Mars Phoenix just issued a highly official Twitter saying that some white, shiny stuff it was staring at has sublimated. In other words, it's definitely ice. The previous discovery of probable ice sent thousands of scientists and NASA fans into violent discovery-gasms, but until the Phoenix team was to observe sublimation, which is when ice skips the liquid state and just evaporates, they couldn't be sure.

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Our favourite Martian gadget of the moment is experiencing some performance anxiety. While all of Phoenix's parts are working just fine, including the 8-foot scoop arm, the little guy just couldn't seal the deal when NASA scientists gave the green light to scoop dirt and put the bun in the oven. None of the inaugural sample made it into the first oven, you see, and scientists at the University of Arizona are scrambling today to find out why.

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