Curiosity finds gravel on Mars!

I really didn't need to spend all of that money to know there was gravel on Mars. Here's hoping the mission becomes more fruitful soon.

"Curiosity's landing site is beginning to come into focus," John Grotzinger, project manager of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, said in a statement released by the space agency. "In the image, we are looking to the northwest. What you see on the horizon is the rim of Gale Crater. In the foreground, you can see a gravel field. The question is, where does this gravel come from? It is the first of what will be many scientific questions to come from our new home on Mars."

source

Anyone care to speculate about the origin of......gravel, on Mars?

Do you think the gravel was manufactured, or natural formed?

I didn't find a thread about this article. Just remove it if someone already posted it.

reply to post by AnarchysAngel




Also, there's only like four pics of Mars and all the rest are of the freaking employees. I don't wanna see them.

Ya know ?

While I certainly see value in exploring the universe, perhaps that billion dollars could have gone to better use. Like maybe feeding people, helping out the poor, paying off some national debt...

reply to post by AnarchysAngel


Well, some people say Mar's might of been fairly Earth like about a million years ago or more.....

Fer God's sakes, they just got there less than 24 hours ago. It's a two year mission. They haven't even unpacked yet and y'all are griping about the pics. Do you seriously think that's all there is? That they landed in one piece and are operational is a minor miracle in itself. Nearly half the Mars missions failed "on impact." How about exert some patience and give them a chance?

reply to post by skepticconwatcher


I'm somewhat serious about the speculation on gravel though. I thought gravel forms as a result of erosion right?

What is it and where is it formed? Gravel is made up of small rocks. It can be a mixture of sand, clay, and small pieces of rock. It is sedimentary rock and usually found where there is, or were, rivers, lakes, and glaciers. It happens where rocks have been weathered by wind or water or eroded.

source

Originally posted by Domo1
While I certainly see value in exploring the universe, perhaps that billion dollars could have gone to better use. Like maybe feeding people, helping out the poor, paying off some national debt...

Your forgetting all the money spent to develop space technology leads to technology that helps to solve those problems. Honestly I am suspicious of people who air your concerns, because the under current of it all is "I am scared you will all leave me when it becomes possible". Granted that fear may or may not apply to you as an individual, but it seems to permeate the anti space crowd..

Originally posted by Domo1
While I certainly see value in exploring the universe, perhaps that billion dollars could have gone to better use. Like maybe feeding people, helping out the poor, paying off some national debt...

I tend to hold the same opinion you do...I also tend to get berated for it.

While I loved the space program and the dreams it bought etc. I could always think of better things that could be done with that massive amount of money spent on it. Same with this mission. I will love seeing the pics etc... but the money fer cripe's sake.

reply to post by AnarchysAngel


In my opinion "gravel" is an extremely interesting term!!

Gravel on earth comes from either mining operations, or environmental actions like wave action that crushes up larger stones. Either one of those things creating gravel on Mars would be very interesting!!

I've never heard them use the term "gravel" for the moon dust or moon rocks.

what is the composition of the gravel? This would tell a lot how it got there....

great now is there limestone or calcium to make cement?

A couple of pictures for joe Public after landing then apparently two weeks of calibrating the rover[Top Secret Mission]before we see some blurred photoshopped images
Just sayin

Cran

Originally posted by schuyler
Do you seriously think that's all there is?

I expect there to be some bigger rocks, and smaller rocks, blueberries, and a lot of dust. I also predict that there will be rocks that look kind of like skulls or creatures or bits of machinery.

reply to post by getreadyalready


I'm curious as to what makes these rocks gravel, and those other rocks, rocks.

It doesn't really look like manufactured gravel, but it's not that far from it.

Did we just land in someone's gravel pit?

Originally posted by korathin

Originally posted by Domo1
While I certainly see value in exploring the universe, perhaps that billion dollars could have gone to better use. Like maybe feeding people, helping out the poor, paying off some national debt...

Your forgetting all the money spent to develop space technology leads to technology that helps to solve those problems. Honestly I am suspicious of people who air your concerns, because the under current of it all is "I am scared you will all leave me when it becomes possible". Granted that fear may or may not apply to you as an individual, but it seems to permeate the anti space crowd..

Well that's a fair point. I still think that money could be funneled into more appropriate places with more return on investment. Think what that much money could do for cancer research. Then again who knows if some technology that ends up saving the human race or making it possible to cure cancer etc. won't come from the research that went into the project. I don't know, I just like hearing myself type.

I don't understand the 'you will leave me' comment.

reply to post by AnarchysAngel


1)Annunaki mining mission

2) Glacier erosion

thats my guesses

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


NASA's budget is drop in the ocean compared to the military. Perhaps that's where we should start first.

Exploring, pushing the boundaries of science is one of the things that define us as a race. I for one say, slash the military budget and let's all go to Mars!

reply to post by schuyler
But schuyler...it's gravel. GRAVEL.

Ain't nobody got time for that.

Originally posted by Domo1
While I certainly see value in exploring the universe, perhaps that billion dollars could have gone to better use. Like maybe feeding people, helping out the poor, paying off some national debt...

A billion dollars is pocket change to the US government, at least this billion was spent on something interesting and 'possibly' worthwhile. Let's forget about the multiple billions if not trillions spent on technology to kill people with.

$1Billion dollars for super advanced robot on Mars = Bargain. Where's your sense of adventure?

reply to post by rebellender


Can glaciers be made of things other than water? Maybe this could suggest that water was once common on Mars?

reply to post by AnarchysAngel

It's pretty well established that there was a significant amount of water on Mars' surface at one time.