Posted on 12/21/2006 12:27:00 AM PST by SunkenCiv
There is something of a paradox about Mars," agrees Joshua Bandfield of Arizona State University in Tempe. His team recently showed that the planet has no large deposits of carbonates, which should have formed if giant pools of water had persisted on the surface. Bandfield suggests that liquid water must have occasionally burst out of the ground, carving channels and gullies, but that it quickly froze again in the frigid Martian climate... A consensus is now growing among planetary specialists, however, that except for brief early periods more than 4 billion years ago when gigantic meteors might have heated the Martian surface and melted subsurface waters, the Red Planet has always been a cold and icy object, according to Philip Christensen of Arizona State University.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
Does this mean that John Carter wore a heavy coat?
Sure puts a damper on the whole "water on Mars"/"life on Mars"/"let's get humans to Mars for trillions of $$$" agenda.
Mars was 'always cold and frozen'The idea that Mars was once a warm place, awash with oceans that could harboured early life has taken a knock - new data suggests it was always cold, frozen and probably lifeless. A survey of the Red Planet's surface has revealed only traces of carbonates, minerals that should have formed in abundant quantities if Mars once had expansive seas. On Earth, the mineral is found in limestone and chalk deposits around the world. The data was collected by a thermal emission spectrometer (TES) on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and was analysed by researchers at Arizona State University in the US... "We found carbonate, but we've only trace amounts," said team leader Philip Christensen. "This really points to a cold, frozen, icy Mars that has probably always been that way. We believe that the relatively small amounts that we see probably did not come from oceans, but from the [carbon dioxide] atmosphere interacting directly with dust," he said... "We see so much erosion in canyons, and valleys and plains that have been stripped bare," he said. "It seems unlikely that the carbonate rocks could all be hiding out of view. When you look at the entire planet, you'd think that somewhere a little piece would be exposed."
by David Cohen
New Scientist
22 August 2003
Report: Mars Cold, Bitter Planet for a Long, Long Time
space.com | 07/21/05 | Robert Roy Britt
Posted on 07/21/2005 10:09:04 PM EDT by KevinDavis
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1448047/posts
Rovers Find Evidence Mars Was Once Hostile
AP on Yahoo | 12/5/05 | Alicia Chang - ap
Posted on 12/05/2005 8:59:30 PM EST by NormsRevenge
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1534629/posts
Studies Cast Doubt on Idea of Life on Mars
Yahoo (AP) | Thu Dec 22, 8:37 AM ET | ALICIA CHANG
Posted on 12/22/2005 1:46:33 PM EST by The_Victor
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1545513/posts
Except when he appeared naked to ER Burroughs. Or when holding Dejah Thoris in his arms. ;')
That's the main driving force behind the human missions to Mars, at least from a political standpoint.
It is a fact that ice/water is present on mars.
LOL!
It's a fact that frozen water is present in the soil of Mars. But I don't see what you're getting at. The atmospheric pressure on Mars is the same as 40 miles altitude over Earth, so liquid water doesn't exist on Mars, except as possible transitory events.
Hey, I say lets go, and think of a good reason after we get there...
:') Probably it will wind up being a "plant the flag" mission, and not repeated for generations. However, the capability being developed may very well result in a permanent human presence on the Moon.
Mars was 'always cold and frozen'The idea that Mars was once a warm place, awash with oceans that could harboured early life has taken a knock - new data suggests it was always cold, frozen and probably lifeless. A survey of the Red Planet's surface has revealed only traces of carbonates, minerals that should have formed in abundant quantities if Mars once had expansive seas. On Earth, the mineral is found in limestone and chalk deposits around the world. The data was collected by a thermal emission spectrometer (TES) on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and was analysed by researchers at Arizona State University in the US... "We found carbonate, but we've only trace amounts," said team leader Philip Christensen. "This really points to a cold, frozen, icy Mars that has probably always been that way. We believe that the relatively small amounts that we see probably did not come from oceans, but from the [carbon dioxide] atmosphere interacting directly with dust," he said... "We see so much erosion in canyons, and valleys and plains that have been stripped bare," he said. "It seems unlikely that the carbonate rocks could all be hiding out of view. When you look at the entire planet, you'd think that somewhere a little piece would be exposed."
by David Cohen
New Scientist
22 August 2003
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