In the latest news from NASA on our little red neighbor, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Global Surveyor have revealed new evidence that the planet was once impacted by another body larger than Pluto. As it turns out, the biggest known impact basin in the solar system has been there all along (some theorized it over twenty years ago), it was just hidden due to some volcanoes that had grown up around the edges.

Down on the surface, the recently-landed Phoenix has been hard at work, digging in the dirt and trying (having failed on its first attempt earlier this month) to get said dirt into its instruments. Having now succeeded, the lander made a startling discovery: Mars may be a good place to grow asparagus, were it not for the pesky sub-zero temperatures and thin atmosphere.

Definitely some interesting news this week, particularly the latter. If we can someday put people on Mars permanently, it'll surely help if we don't have to bring our own dirt with us to grow plants in. Even more so, if the planet can be warmed and the atmosphere thickened (arguably two sides of the same coin, since thicker air should trap more heat), the soil may be able to support plants growing wild across the open surface.

What do you guys think? Will it ever happen, and how soon?