SCI/TECH: Mars: A Water World?

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California is abuzz that something wonderful is about to happen in the exploration of Mars. We have widely speculated on water and life being discovered on Mars... Now it looks like official confirmation of this could be forthcoming!

Space.com
Evidence that suggests Mars was once a water-rich world is mounting as scientists scrutinize data from the Mars Exploration rover, Opportunity, busily at work in a small crater at Meridiani Planum.

That information may well be leading to a biological bombshell of a finding that the red planet has been, and could well be now, an extraterrestrial home for life.



[Edited on 29-2-2004 by SkepticOverlord]

wtf!

i just read on a dutch news internet site that there going to reveal something BIG next week!


There is a palpable buzz here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California that something wonderful is about to happen in the exploration of Mars.

Where Opportunity now roves, some scientists here suggest, could have been underneath a huge ocean or lake. But what has truly been uncovered by the robot at Meridiani Planum is under judicious and tight-lipped review.

Those findings and their implications are headed for a major press conference, rumored to occur early next week -- but given unanimity among rover scientists and agreement on how and who should unveil the dramatic findings. Turns out, even on Mars, a political and ego outcrop hangs over science.

It is also apparent that there is a backlog of scientific measurements that Mars rover scientists working Opportunity have pocketed and kept close to their lab coats.

Other images show the rover tracks clearly are being made in "mud", with water being pressed out of that material, Levin said. "That water promptly freezes and you can see reflecting ice. That's clearly ice. It could be nothing else," he said, "and the source is the water that came out of the mud."

taken from:
www.space.com...

Schweet. Now will they send Opportunity back to look for the "crab" and "Shark's tooth"?

I would suspect a whole lot of new findings about Mars will occur during the operation of the rovers on its surface and the study of their data long after.

I do however, have to wonder how much of NASA's information is being censored.

Super duper find, Good digging.

Maybe it's tied to this:

(from a post by energywave)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N04-038

NASA HEADQUARTERS MARS-ROVER OPPORTUNITY PRESS BRIEFING MARCH 2

Significant findings from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, now exploring Meridiani Planum on Mars,
will be announced at a press briefing at 2 p.m. EST, Tuesday, March 2, 2004, at NASA Headquarters,
Washington.

The briefing will originate from the James E. Webb Auditorium, 300 E St., S.W., Washington, and will be carried
live on NASA TV with two-way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the event from
participating NASA centers.

Dr. Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator, Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters, will make opening
remarks. The panelists include:

--Professor Steve Squyres, Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Principal Investigator, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
--Professor John Grotzinger, MER science team geologist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
Mass.
--Dr. Benton C. Clark III, MER science team member and Chief Scientist of Space Exploration, Lockheed Martin
Space Systems Astronautics Operations, Denver
--Dr. Joy Crisp, MER Project Scientist, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
--Dr. Jim Garvin, Lead Scientist for Mars and the Moon, NASA Headquarters

NASA Television is available on AMC-9, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees west longitude. The
frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. Audio of the broadcast
will be available on voice circuit at the Kennedy Space Center on 321/867-1220.

For a live webcast of the briefing and information about NASA TV on the Internet, visit:

www.nasa.gov...

Why dont they just freakin tell us. Big annoncement I am sure. They are planning a press conference about what most of already know, Mars has water all over and evidence that points to life if not now certainly in the past. I bet you it is goning to be one boring press conference.
I would have a more positive outlook if I thought they were gonna announce proof of complex life living beneath Mars. Doubtful, I am gonna keep my fingers crossed for a startling announcement.

hmmmm....seems like some of us seen something "real" in those pic...wonder which finding it will be.

Originally posted by Wintermorg

wtf!

i just read on a dutch news internet site that there going to reveal something BIG next week!


There is a palpable buzz here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California that something wonderful is about to happen in the exploration of Mars.

Where Opportunity now roves, some scientists here suggest, could have been underneath a huge ocean or lake. But what has truly been uncovered by the robot at Meridiani Planum is under judicious and tight-lipped review.

Those findings and their implications are headed for a major press conference, rumored to occur early next week -- but given unanimity among rover scientists and agreement on how and who should unveil the dramatic findings. Turns out, even on Mars, a political and ego outcrop hangs over science.

It is also apparent that there is a backlog of scientific measurements that Mars rover scientists working Opportunity have pocketed and kept close to their lab coats.

Other images show the rover tracks clearly are being made in "mud", with water being pressed out of that material, Levin said. "That water promptly freezes and you can see reflecting ice. That's clearly ice. It could be nothing else," he said, "and the source is the water that came out of the mud."

taken from:
www.space.com...

Maybe they'll admit they found life on Mars (if there is any) and like that ever is going to happenp.

Still waiting to hear something!

tuesday March 2nd, at 2pm eastern

btw, i was thinking, if it was something like life on mars, or other major major finding wouldn't the President be involved??? or does NASA do all the speaking??

That sux. It's at 2 ET, that is Noon here, I'll be in school until about 3:15, Wish I could be there for the conference.

Originally posted by worldwatcher
tuesday March 2nd, at 2pm eastern

btw, i was thinking, if it was something like life on mars, or other major major finding wouldn't the President be involved??? or does NASA do all the speaking??

The announcement will probably include hard-to-pronounce multisyllabic scientific and technical terminology.

Schweeeeet! It's about time. I've been watching, downloading, and checking out every source I can get my hands on...and all I've got is data. Data is good, but information is better!

I would have a more positive outlook if I thought they were gonna announce proof of complex life living beneath Mars.

Baby steps....you gotta take baby steps... Who knows, they may just go a step further and say they found a fossil, etc. but I doubt it....

Must have found Saddams WMD's hidden there. That is my guess, or Bin Laden is hiding in a Martian Cave.

Obviously this is where we need to dump the world's supply of Chia Pets. Get equipment up there to access the underground aquifers, get those Chias growing all over the place, and "POOF"- reinfuse the atmosphere with oxygen!

Seriously- what does anyone think that protective garments may end up looking like for humans on Mars? I think the worst case scenario may be a polar outfit- with an O2 mask- a lot less trouble than landing on the Moon, maybe. Although, does human skin require O2, as skin is considered a respiratory organ? Or does skin just exhaust, not intake?

what a let down...I already knew that.

still it's exciting to have science confirm what many had suggested.

Originally posted by DrSaid
Obviously this is where we need to dump the world's supply of Chia Pets. Get equipment up there to access the underground aquifers, get those Chias growing all over the place, and "POOF"- reinfuse the atmosphere with oxygen!

Seriously- what does anyone think that protective garments may end up looking like for humans on Mars? I think the worst case scenario may be a polar outfit- with an O2 mask- a lot less trouble than landing on the Moon, maybe. Although, does human skin require O2, as skin is considered a respiratory organ? Or does skin just exhaust, not intake?

My bad- not so easy, with only 1% of a relative Atm. Pressure to that of Earth.

Yes, pressure suit is definitely required, otherwise your blood will literally boil. Very unpleasant.

Chia Pets would freeze and die. You need lots of soil microbes first, to support larger organisms... nitrogen fixing, etc. Some super greenhouse gases like CFCs wouldn't be amiss, warm things up a little.

[Edited on 3-3-2004 by Lampyridae]