QUESTION:
How do you melt the glaciers?

ANSWER from Mark Adler on February 26, 1997:
I suppose you mean the permanent water ice cap.  Melting a little bit for a  
water supply would be pretty easy using sunlight.  A big reflector could  
concentrate the sunlight, kind of like a big magnifying glass.  The only  
question is: is that where you want to be?  If you're exploring Mars, you're  
probably very far away from the ice cap.  It might be easier to collect water  
from the atmosphere where you are.  There's a very small amount in the  
atmosphere, but if you have a really big fan and move a lot of air through a  
device to extract water, you should be able to get enough.

mark