NASA Rover Finds Clue to Mars' Past and Environment for Life

NASA Rover Finds Clue to Mars' Past and Environment for Life

ScienceDaily (June 7, 2010) — Rocks examined by NASA's Spirit Mars Rover hold evidence of a wet, non-acidic ancient environment that may have been favorable for life. Confirming this mineral clue took four years of analysis by several scientists.

An outcrop that Spirit examined in late 2005 revealed high concentrations of carbonate, which originates in wet, near-neutral conditions, but dissolves in acid. The ancient water indicated by this find was not acidic.

NASA's rovers have found other evidence of formerly wet Martian environments. However the data for those environments indicate conditions that may have been acidic. In other cases, the conditions were definitely acidic, and therefore less favorable as habitats for life.

Laboratory tests helped confirm the carbonate identification. The findings were published June 3 by the journal Science.

"This is one of the most significant findings by the rovers," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Squyres is principal investigator for the Mars twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, and a co-author of the new report. "A substantial carbonate deposit in a Mars outcrop tells us that conditions that could have been quite favorable for life were present at one time in that place. "

Spirit inspected rock outcrops, including one scientists called Comanche, along the rover's route from the top of Husband Hill to the vicinity of the Home Plate plateau which Spirit has studied since 2006. Magnesium iron carbonate makes up about one-fourth of the measured volume in Comanche. That is a tenfold higher concentration than any previously identified for carbonate in a Martian rock.

"We used detective work combining results from three spectrometers to lock this down," said Dick Morris, lead author of the report and a member of a rover science team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston."The instruments gave us multiple, interlocking ways of confirming the magnesium iron carbonate, with a good handle on how much there is."

Massive carbonate deposits on Mars have been sought for years without much success. Numerous channels apparently carved by flows of liquid water on ancient Mars suggest the planet was formerly warmer, thanks to greenhouse warming from a thicker atmosphere than exists now. The ancient, dense Martian atmosphere was probably rich in carbon dioxide, because that gas makes up nearly all the modern, very thin atmosphere.

article continued at sciencedaily

Lengthy detective work with data NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit collected in late 2005 has confirmed that an outcrop called "Comanche" contains a mineral indicating that a past environment was wet and non-acidic, possibly favorable to life. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University)

[edit on 7-6-2010 by StealthKix]

S+F

People, wake up : maybe something begin now : NASA unleashed information EVERYDAY ... in the way you want ( this must be analysed)

related : NASA Finds Two Potential Life Signatures from Moon Titan

Nasa source : NASA Rover Finds Clue to Mars' Past And Environment for Life

Nasa is in competition with japan and china ? Or the show must go one : because they need money ? or ... wait and see

Isn't it kind of sad to imagine Mars in its past with huge oceans and grassy hills and to see it now deserted, and pretty much dead?

reply to post by Slih_09


Imagine that we are a very young civilisation ... and a lot of thing happen in galaxy far and not so far away.

A part of the Stars that you see in the sky : are dead or collapsed. ( at this present time if we understand "space time" in physics).