Posted: Sat, Aug 2, 2008, 11:23 PM ET (0323 GMT)
NASA has brief White House officials about unreleased findings from the Phoenix Mars Lander mission that could have implications for life on the Red Planet, Aviation Week reported late Friday. The report said that the office of the presidential science advisor had been briefed on the as yet unknown findings, which NASA is planning to release as soon as mid-August. The data is not expected to indicate the presence of life itself, since the instruments on Phoenix lack the capability to detect it, but may instead deal with the planet's ability to support life. Earlier in the week project scientists confirmed that the spacecraft had sampled water ice, a result that was not unexpected based on past studies.

Related Links:

•  Aviation Week article