southsider2k5 Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4421086/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastime Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 I don't want to get into any deep discussions or anything, but if Mars has water, then there is life there. It might only be bacteria (which is all we had here in the beginning until genetic mutations began a grand expansion), but it's exciting to me and other science geeks to hear this. Just call me "Ross" and get it over with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonkeyKongerko Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 Exciting to me too. When do they build the Enterprise I wonder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 I don't want to get into any deep discussions or anything, but if Mars has water, then there is life there. It might only be bacteria (which is all we had here in the beginning until genetic mutations began a grand expansion), but it's exciting to me and other science geeks to hear this. Just call me "Ross" and get it over with. Yesiree, very exciting for the science-minded around here. But the presence of water by itself is not enough for extant life as we understand it. Frozen water might be present in an environment too cold for a fluid cell matrix or membrane component fluidity. Plus, with the radiation levels at the surface, what life may be there might be deep underground or onder ice - that is, there but out of reach of the probes. Still, very exciting stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastime Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 I just heard this on a newsradio station - NASA has stated that the Mars Rover discovered an area today that has been proven to, YES, once been covered with WATER. "Liquid water," as they called it. How exciting! That's awesome. Here's the scoop: NASA: Liquid water once on Mars Evidence red planet was once 'soaking wet' - By Marsha Walton - CNN.com, Tuesday, March 2, 2004 (CNN) -- Mission accomplished. NASA scientists say the Mars rovers have found what they were looking for: Hard evidence that the red planet was once "soaking wet." "We have concluded the rocks here were once soaked in liquid water," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University. He's the principal investigator for the science instruments on Opportunity and its twin rover, Spirit. "The second question we've tried to answer: Were these rocks altered by liquid water? We believe definitively, yes," said Squyres. Squyres and other NASA officials made the announcement at NASA headquarters in Washington, after several days of giving tantalizing hints that something significant had been discovered. "Three and a half years ago, in July 2000, we were on stage here to talk about sending two rovers to get evidence of past water. NASA and its international partners have turned those dreams to reality," said Ed Weiler, NASA associate administrator for space science. Scientists used instruments on board the golf cart-sized rovers to study the composition of the rocks and soil on the planet. The rocks' physical appearance, plus the detection of sulfates, make the case for a watery history, and more important, an environment that could have been hospitable to life. Spirit and Opportunity were sent to opposite sides of the planet with the possibility of investigating different types of terrain. Spirit, the first rover to arrive on January 3, landed near the Gusev Crater, which may once have held a lake. But geologists and other researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, were thrilled when they saw the possibilities surrounding Opportunity, which landed three weeks later. It landed inside a small crater in the Meridiani Planum, one of the flattest places on the planet. And its landing site was within driving distance for the spacecraft to reach an exposed slice of bedrock. Since its landing January 25, Opportunity has used the same tools as a human field geologist would to determine the chemical contents of the rocks. Using an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, a device that can identify chemical elements, scientists have identified a high concentration of sulfur in the bedrock. Another instrument on board, a Moessbauer spectrometer, has detected an iron sulfate mineral known as jarosite. From their knowledge of rocks on earth, scientists say rocks with as much salt as this Mars rock either formed in water, or had a long exposure to water after they were formed. The scientists say these rocks could have formed in an acidic lake or even a hot springs. Scientists say the case for a watery past is further strengthened by the pictures taken by the rovers' panoramic cameras and its microscopic imager. One target rock, named "El Capitan," is filled with random pockmarks. Geologists say a texture like that comes from sites where salt crystals have formed in rocks that have sat in salt water. Scientists say they have gained other clues from the physical appearance of the rocks. They see a pattern called "crossbedding," which is often the result of wind or water moving across the rock's surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 I just got done watching the press conference online. Wicked cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonWeltall Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 WASSUP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen Prawn Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 WASSUP LMAO!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 As a person who lives on Earth. regarding water on Mars.. WHO CARES?! It's not like it matters that much does it? Why are they wasting money on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullcollapse Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 honestly i think this is cool. it opens the door to so many things. http://www.comics.com/comics/hedge/archive...e-20040302.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastime Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 There are some bacteria, spores, and other things that we grow in the International Space Station that won't live or grow within our atmosphere. There could be bacteria, spores, and other things living on Mars that could be used here on Earth. It is highly improbable, but what if the bacteria we need to create a medicine to cure cancer is found on Mars? I think that's the main reason we explore the planet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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