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Water on Mars?

LordFerret

By LordFerret
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LordFerret

LordFerret

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There's a number of news articles which have popped up noting a pending major announcement to be made by NASA on Monday (Sept 28 2015, coinciding with the Blood Moon lol), pretty much all of them noting a 'mystery has been solved'. There is, obviously, much speculation that it involves liquid water on Mars. So, I'm waiting patiently.

One such article...

http://www.inquisitr.com/2448704/nasa-announcing-major-martian-science-finding-about-mars-on-monday-mystery-finally-solved/

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PB666

PB666

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There's a number of news articles which have popped up noting a pending major announcement to be made by NASA on Monday (Sept 28 2015, coinciding with the Blood Moon lol), pretty much all of them noting a 'mystery has been solved'. There is, obviously, much speculation that it involves liquid water on Mars. So, I'm waiting patiently.

One such article...

http://www.inquisitr.com/2448704/nasa-announcing-major-martian-science-finding-about-mars-on-monday-mystery-finally-solved/

I already referenced two such news reports in the Venus . . . Mars thread. I started hearing stuff yesterday

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Kryten

Kryten

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The water speculation isn't just from the vague statements about a solved mystery. If we take a look at the presenter list;

News conference participants will be:

-- Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters

-- Michael Meyer, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters

-- Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta

-- Mary Beth Wilhelm of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California and the Georgia Institute of Technology

-- Alfred McEwen, principal investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) at the University of Arizona in Tucson

Most of these are planetary science heavyweights you'd expect at a conference of this sort regardless of exact content, but Wilhelm and Ohja are just PhD candidates. Wilhelm's most recent work has been on Martian crater gullies, and Ohja's on a specific subset of those known recurring slope lineae, or RSLs. RSLs are an active feature, observed to grow and shrink annually, and our best guesses as to how and why have included transient water flow for a while.

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LordFerret

LordFerret

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I'm inclined to agree with that. However, the findings of those individuals could have nothing to do with water and be of some other process entirely. It wouldn't be the first time we get a surprise curve-ball finding announcement... but I do hope that it is water. That sure would intensify missions/goals, I would think. :cool:

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Tex_NL

Tex_NL

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water-mars.jpg

No seriously. I'm not impressed yet. At least not until they make a REAL discovery. Remember that arsenic bacteria a few years ago? It was announced as it was something special. A completely different branch on the tree of life. But all it turned out to be was an already well known bacteria that just happens to be able to substitute phosphorous for arsenic.

So please NASA. Do yourself a favour and don't disgrace yourself yet again. Think before you act this time.

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_Augustus_

_Augustus_

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Im just thinking... How would they announce finding traces of life on mars? It would be realy big news, whats the procedure for that? Is there even one?
Unfortunately there isn't really a procedure. There should really be one, considering that it's a pretty universe-shaking event for us if you think about it.
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PB666

PB666

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Im just thinking... How would they announce finding traces of life on mars? It would be realy big news, whats the procedure for that? Is there even one?

If there is currently water on Mars, not ice, but some internally heated cycle, like the gysers in yellowstone, then they could look for and probably would find some stage of life. Here's the deal, if you have very advanced optics and chromatigraphy and a bit of luck, for example a plume of steam rising up from a steam bath with life in it, and a satellite photographing a sunset that crosses this might detect these molecules. So for instance lets say you have a sand pit, at the bottom of the pit you have water, chemical energy from a gyser underneath, and biota. The water may not be visible, steam may be evident just above the surface, and molecules of life could be in the steam, but no visible water on the surface. Again, would we recognize the life, and could robots sufficiently characterize it if thay landed on saud sites.

Again, speculation, so be skeptical, this may just be NASA politics for the next mission.

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Kerbart

Kerbart

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No seriously. I'm not impressed yet. At least not until they make a REAL discovery. Remember that arsenic bacteria a few years ago? It was announced as it was something special. A completely different branch on the tree of life. But all it turned out to be was an already well known bacteria that just happens to be able to substitute phosphorous for arsenic.

Exactly! Whatever the "mystery" is, it's probably something a group of less than half a dozen scientists vaguely are aware off.

Creating hype is easy... living up to it not so much. I'm not going to tune in on a live NASA broadcast on Monday, only to be disappointed by some minor research result.

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Scotius

Scotius

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Exactly! Whatever the "mystery" is, it's probably something a group of less than half a dozen scientists vaguely are aware off.

Creating hype is easy... living up to it not so much. I'm not going to tune in on a live NASA broadcast on Monday, only to be disappointed by some minor research result.

Yep. Pretty much my thoughts. If one of rovers would find undisputable traces of life on Mars, NASA would call all of the media for press conference, without giving them any eads-up, and then drop big bomb on their lap for maximum effect. Such news do not need any preliminary hype - world would go bananas over it as fast as Twitter, Facebook and other media sites could update their pages.

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Lord Aurelius

Lord Aurelius

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http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-announce-mars-mystery-solved

NASA has announced that they've solved a major mystery about Mars, but isn't saying more at this point. There's a press release scheduled for tomorrow at 11am EDT where they'll give us the details.

My guess is that they've determined what happened to all that water on Mars that shaped the terrain and formed some of the rocks but is long gone now. Either that or they've discovered microbial life on Mars (and thus solving the mystery of whether there's life on Mars).

What do you think they'll announce?

Edited by Lord Aurelius
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