NASA briefs White House for life on Mars

NASA briefs White House for life on Mars

[url=http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/02/the-white-house-is-briefed-phoenix-about-to-announce-potential-for-life-on-mars/]www.universetoday.com[/u rl]

It would appear that the US President has been briefed by Phoenix scientists about the discovery of something more \"provocative\" than the discovery of water existing on the Martian surface. This news comes just as the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) confirmed experimental evidence for the existence of water in the Mars regolith on Thursday. Whilst NASA scientists are not claiming that life once existed on the Red Planet\'s surface, new data appears to indicate the \"potential for life\" more conclusively than the TEGA water results. Apparently these new results are being kept under wraps until further, more detailed analysis can be carried out, but we are assured that this announcement will be huge… So why is there all this secrecy? According to scientists in communication with Aviation Week & Space Technology, the next big discovery will need to be mulled over for a while before it is announced to the world. In fact, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory science team for the MECA wet-chemistry instrument that made these undisclosed findings were kept out of the July 31st news conference (confirming water) so additional analysis could be carried out, avoiding any questions that may have revealed their preliminary results. They have also made the decision to discuss the results with the Bush Administration\'s Presidential Science Advisor\'s office before a press conference between mid-August and early September. Although good news, Thursday\'s announcement of the discovery of water on Mars comes as no surprise to mission scientists and some are amused by the media\'s reaction to the TEGA results.

\"They have discovered water on Mars for the third or fourth time,\" one senior Mars scientist joked. These new MECA results are, according to the Phoenix team, a little more complex than the water \"discovery.\" Scientists are keen to point out however, that this secretive news will in no way indicate the existence of life (past or present) on Mars; Phoenix simply is not equipped make this discovery.

(visit the link for the full news article)

What do you think?

[url=http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/02/the-white-house-is-briefed-phoenix-about-to-announce-potential-for-life-on-mars/]www.universetoday.com[/u rl]
(visit the link for the full news article)

I think that if you ran a quick search, you'd have come up with this thread.