York U researchers lead the Canadian team for NASA's Phoenix Mission to Mars

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Scientists involved with NASA's Phoenix Mission are now searching for signs of habitable life on the Martian planet after snow was discovered falling from clouds four kilometers above the surface.

The team discovered calcium carbonate, found in limestone and chalk, and sheet silicate, two minerals known to be formed in liquid water.

"We are approaching the hypothesis there was habitable life on Mars," chief scientist Peter Smith said during a media briefing at NASA's Washington headquarters Sept. 29.

A laser instrument designed to study the Red Planet's atmosphere, known as a lidar, detected the snow, which vaporized before hitting the ground.

"We've seen frost on the surface and we know snow has been coming down from the sky," Smith said, adding scientists don't expect ice to melt into liquid water at this time.

Since landing on Mars May 25, Phoenix confirmed a hard subsurface layer at the planet's north pole contains water-ice, which could help determine whether life had existed on the planet, the cornerstone of the mission.

York University researchers lead the Canadian science team for NASA's Phoenix Mission, marking the first time Canada has taken part in a Mars landing.

The spacecraft carried a Canadian-built weather station, including sophisticated laser instrumentation designed and built by scientists at York, the Canadian Space Agency, the University of Alberta, Dalhousie University and the Denmark's University of Aarhus.

The meteorological instrument package (MET) gathers crucial data about the weather and climate on Mars and provide a comprehensive picture of the atmosphere at the landing site, 1,200 kilometers from the planet's north pole. This marks the first time such data has been collected.

The MET package consists of temperature, wind and pressure sensors, along with a laser based light detecting and ranging (lidar) system.

The lidar shoots pulses of laser light into the Martian sky, precisely measuring components of the atmosphere such as dust, ground fog and clouds, from the surface up to a range of 20 km.

A wind sensor, known as a telltale - constructed by the University of Aarhus - sits at the top of the meteorological station's mast and has provided additional information about wind speed and direction.

The Phoenix Mission, originally planned for three months on Mars, is being extended until the end of the year.