Mars - it's most definitely ice

Four days after Phoenix took a picture of a part of the soil it took a picture once again and some of the white material had disappeared, which means that it's most definitely not salt, and therefore must be ice. If I understand their line of reasoning correctly. Here's what spaceref.com has to say:

"It is with great pride and a lot of joy that I announce today that we have found proof that this hard bright material is really water ice and not some other substance," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of The University of Arizona, during a Friday news briefing to announce the confirmation of water ice.

"The truth we're looking for is not just looking at ice. It is in finding out the minerals, chemicals and hopefully the organic materials associated with these discoveries," said Smith.

and:

"These latest developments are a major accomplishment and validation of the Mars program's 'follow-the-water' exploration framework," said Doug McCuistion at NASA Headquarters, Washington, director of the space agency's Mars Program. "This specific discovery is the result of an outstanding team working with a robust spacecraft that has allowed them to work ahead of their original science schedule."

Follow the water. Ceres apparently has many times more water than Mars. Let's follow that. Oh wait, we are (set to arrive in 2015). I can't wait until we have better images of Ceres than this: