Would NASA reveal it if life was found on Titan?

Well, looking beyond the fact that Hugyens isn't designed to look for life....

No, I don't think they would tell us if they found life on Titan or any other planet. NASA doesn't WANT to find life. Look at those two probes they have on Mars. They've been roaming around Mars for a year now outfitted with every instrument besides one that detects life?

Why would they do this? Why spend all that money and effort to just to look at freaking rocks?!No one cares about that....the real questions about Mars are is there life and was there water. What a waste. At least the Europeans are trying find life on Mars....but like in everything, America is behind.

Anyway, if they found life on another planet, even a microbe, it would threaten the fragile worldviews of the fundie christians that hold sway over this country. So therefore, we cannot be allowed to find life. Just watch, if they do announce the discovery of life (it'll be the Europeans) American scientists will be the quickest to dismiss it as methane bubbles or lifeforms carried from earth. If it's something more complex they'll probably just break down and say the "devil put it there".

Originally posted by yuanshao101
Yeah if is 1 light year away thats that planet might not even exist now because the light was sent like 1000 normal years ago its all about the light

It doesn't matter I am not sure where you are coming from on this. The telescopes they are developing will be able to detect life, it doesn't matter if that particular planet is there still in real time. The telescope would still answer the question. It would just answer it as "we detected life existed there 100 light years ago.

[edit on 25-12-2004 by swordfish]

Originally posted by UM_Gazz
My bet.. NOT A CHANCE .. no life on Titan.

But remember, people had said the same thing about deep in the ocean. Especially in the waters around deep ocean vents. So banking on that, I'll have to say there IS a chance of life on Titan. *tosses a 20 into the betting pool*

I think by far the better chance of finding life in this solar system is on Europa. If we find any life there I bet it would be like what we have living near the thermal vents here on earth something like tubeworms and shrimp,fish, ect...

Same thing I was going to say... Who knows? We will in a few years. If we do find any kind of life there then one wonders how common it is in the universe. Also knowing that Mars and Venus may have been like Earth in the past is enough to spark a nerve.

It doesn't matter I am not sure where you are coming from on this. The telescopes they are developing will be able to detect life, it doesn't matter if that particular planet is there still in real time. The telescope would still answer the question. It would just answer it as "we detected life existed there 100 light years ago.

The TPF (Terrestrial Planet Finder) is meant to actually take direct images of planets orbiting other stars and is also designed to see what chemicals and elements the planets are made of. They know what Earth is made of and that is how they will base their findings of possible life candidates.

Well, looking beyond the fact that Hugyens isn't designed to look for life....

Was also going to say that. It may see things that suggest life though...

I doubt that life will even be found on Titan. Just becasue the atmosphere is to be believed to be the same as Earth in its early stages that doesn't mean
1. it is equal to the earl stages of Earth life development
2. The atmosphere may be the same but the planetary conditions are different.

Earth is 93,000,000 miles from the sun Titan is roughly 10xs that. It is alot colder and recives much less sun light. Heat played a major part in the formation of life on earth or so it is believed. Saturn emmits enormus ammounts of radiation. Enough to kill a man almost instantly. The idea that life would develope unprotected from this radiation and cold is highly unlikely, but life has amazed us many a time back here on earth. One more thing, it is believed the atmosphere of Titan is composed of hydrocarbons such as methane and ethane. To our knowldge life can not survive in that type of atmosphere. But yet again life can be stranger than fiction.

To the actual post of "Would it be covered up?"
Personally I don't see any reason to have information like this covered up. It's what almost everything and everyone is after these days. With new scientific feilds comming up like "Astrobiology" and the latest findings from the Mars rovers there is little reason to cover this up if it has no immiediate threat to Earth. The Huygens probe is not comming back so the threat of life being brought back to earth is not plausiable. Also had NASA ans ESA believed that Titan could possibly harbor life they would have never sent the Huygens probe in so quickly. The whole fuss over sending a craft to Europa is for fear of contamination of the enviorment. The agencies whold have taken allt he nessciary precautions and such to make sure that the Titan Enviorment was not contimaniated.

I do not believe that life will be found on Titan. If by some miricale it is I do not think NASA/ ESA would cover it up.

I think the guys and gals @ NASA would hold the fact of life outside of our planet very close to the vest for two main reasons:1. Any confermed news of inteligent life in our universe would just turn the worlds religious icons into a sea of red faces. 2 If any other world govt. got wind of it there would be one hell of a space race to engage what we found. All of this would really be a mute point if they wanted to take us over and do like experiments and other weird stuff with us. A friend of mine who lives in Hampton, Va. and works for NASA says the public would find out just about as quick as NASA. Go wonder!

[edit on 25-12-2004 by FLYIN HIGH]

You guys keep mentioning the lack of heat. Do none of you remember that the tidal forces of the big planets and the orbit velocities keeping the moons in place create a great amount of heat at depth...

Originally posted by ChrisRT
You guys keep mentioning the lack of heat. Do none of you remember that the tidal forces of the big planets and the orbit velocities keeping the moons in place create a great amount of heat at depth...

I know of the tidial forces of the graviotional tug of the parent planet. The deal with Titan and how it differes from where the theory origoniated which was Europa is that the tidal forces heat up near the center of the planet. On Europa they would have miles of Ice to block the radiation from jupiter. On titan there would be verry little to block the radition so even if there are tidal forces acting on Titan there is no protection from the radiation unless there are large "caverns" that decend to teh center of the planet. But then they would just turn into giant lava tubes...

Oh...

Is it even proven that life can't exist with radiation?

I dont think the world religions would be turned upside down, Asian religions dont have a problem with life off of Earth, and the pope has said there might be life elswhere in the universe.

And the United States aren't of the same religiouse makeups of Asia. Nasa is American and they, along with the government will act on what they feel best for the American people...

I agree that the conditions on Titan can be very different from Earth, a while ago, because in part of temperature and pression, but we do have on earth life under extreme conditions: acid environments, saline, crushing pressures, extreme cold,... Nothing is impossible really...

But indeed, I think that for a load of "good" reasons, a lot of those people would not reveal the discovery of life. Note that on Mars, the researchers were just declaring that there is a possibility that life could have existed in a distant path. Though we know of some earthly lifeforms that could live under the current Mars conditions, no one will agree to say that it is possible that life still exists out there. And it is maybe not likely, but still very possible.

So what about Titan? Probably the same. They would not like to admit if they knew. Someone mentionned religion, or rather christianity. I certainly agree that most of christians would not accept extraterrestrial life, because that's exactly what it would be. I think that mostly for ethical and religious reasons, they would not like to tell the people that life exists elsewhere if they find it.

And also, maybe Europa, Io, Callisto or Ganymede... Or others... Who know if Jupiter is not harboring some life? Anyone here has read Carl Sagan's Cosmos? He details a purely imaginative lifeform on Jupiter. Incredible, unlikely, but not impossible...

If I'm not dead already by then, I swear that, the day Earth will officially have accepted life elsewhere in the universe and got some proof, and especially if it is intelligent life, I swear that champagne will be free for everyone around!!!

PDF Article about lichens states that they likely couldn't live on Mars.
Very nice article about Archaebacteria and its amazing possibilities (long read)
PDF Article about cultivation of some bacteria on Mars
Short article mentions Earth, Mars, Europa and Titan as possible life harboring bodies

Now we have at least 4 places in our mere star system, most common in the universe, where life has a possibility to exist. At least one of these places (Earth obviously) has life, even intelligent life.

I agree with ShadowXIX (funny enough I always agree with him!), the best prospect for life is on Europa.

But there are theories of bizarre lifeforms that aren't even carbon based! I can't remember what material it was that they COULD be composed of...

Life is tenacious, not weak as many imagine...

.
Just for the sake of argument, let�s say that you are one of the many people on this board who believe in the possibility of intelligent extraterrestrial life, and that governments would not just announce such a discovery.

If they wanted to break it to us gently, the scenario of extraterrestrial announcements might go something like this:

1) Discovery of evidence of ancient existence of water.
2) Discovery of recent evidence of water.
3) Discovery of frozen traces of current water.
4) Discovery of water.
5) Discovery of evidence of ancient microbes.
6) Discovery of evidence of recent microbes.
7) Discovery of living microbes.
8) Discovery of one or more of the previous items on more than one celestial body, followed by the assertion that life is probably commonplace.
9) Evidence of past complex life.
10) Evidence of recent complex life.
11) Discovery of complex life.
12) Evidence of past intelligent life.
13) Indirect evidence of current intelligent life.
14) Announcement of detection of intelligent life.
15) Announcement of contact with intelligent life.

So, to get back to the questions of the thread: Yes, I think we are at a point in the program where if microbes were found it would be announced.
.

Given NASAs track record, the probe would get trapped in jupiters gravitational pull and get sucked in

Originally posted by Paladin327
Given NASAs track record, the probe would get trapped in jupiters gravitational pull and get sucked in

I think they know better then to have only 1 person look over the calculations anymore...

I highly doubt we will find inteligent life in the solar system that naturaly evolved here.
Life can also be silicon based.
The pope is the leader of catholicism which is the religion christianity comes from.

[edit on 12/27/2004 by iori_komei]

Originally posted by iori_komei
I highly doubt we will find inteligent life in the solar system that naturaly evolved here.
Life can also be silicon based.
The pope is the leader of catholicism which is the religion christianity comes from.

[edit on 12/27/2004 by iori_komei]

I think you're mixing up things a bit...

1. There IS intelligent life in the solar system that naturaly eveolved here. WE are that life. Unless you consider that we are profoundly stupid, not a total nonsense, but still...
2. I started a thread some time ago about life being Si based. The general idea about it is that it is not possible. The thread is here.
3. The pope is actually the leader of catholicism. But christianity is the set of all religions that believe in Jesus, and the word christianity refers also to all non really religious people, but who are under the general idea that Jesus lived and was the son of god. Catholicism is a subset of christianity. Correct me if I'm wrong.

This is not flaming and I obvisouly have nothing against you iori_komei, but I thought important to correct those misunderstandings.

I think cimmerius has hit it right on the head....

1) Discovery of evidence of ancient existence of water.
2) Discovery of recent evidence of water.
3) Discovery of frozen traces of current water.
4) Discovery of water.
5) Discovery of evidence of ancient microbes.
6) Discovery of evidence of recent microbes.
7) Discovery of living microbes.
8) Discovery of one or more of the previous items on more than one celestial body, followed by the assertion that life is probably commonplace.
9) Evidence of past complex life.
10) Evidence of recent complex life.
11) Discovery of complex life.
12) Evidence of past intelligent life.
13) Indirect evidence of current intelligent life.
14) Announcement of detection of intelligent life.
15) Announcement of contact with intelligent life.

Officially, we're at step one with the recent NASA announcement. In the Public's view, we're at step 5 with the older story of the Martian microbes in the meteorite. Announcing the discovery of extra-terrestrial microbes would be the next logical step in disclosure and acclimating the public to the idea...so no, I don't think the ESA would hush that up. Now, if they found something like Taun-Tauns roaming the icy wastes or something....now THAT might be glossed over, hehe....

1) Discovery of evidence of ancient existence of water.
-Mars.
2) Discovery of recent evidence of water.
-Mars.
3) Discovery of frozen traces of current water.
-Mars, on the poles is ice.
4) Discovery of water.
-Quite possibly soon.
5) Discovery of evidence of ancient microbes.
-The meteor with traces of microbes.
6) Discovery of evidence of recent microbes.
-Possibly soon on Mars?
7) Discovery of living microbes.
8) Discovery of one or more of the previous items on more than one celestial body, followed by the assertion that life is probably commonplace.
9) Evidence of past complex life.
10) Evidence of recent complex life.
11) Discovery of complex life.
12) Evidence of past intelligent life.
13) Indirect evidence of current intelligent life.
14) Announcement of detection of intelligent life.
15) Announcement of contact with intelligent life.

I'd agree, struck that nail right on the head...