[Don Joe]

Phil, can you plunk your magic twanger (your ping list)? I've pinged a bunch, but I know I've missed plenty.

I was about to post this article, when I found it had already been posted (I searched for it before posting).

Moving right along...

My WAG is that they're playing the "limited hang-out" gambit and will not 'fess up to the obvious evidence of life found by the rovers, but will make great hay over the (already known) water.

What will (IMO) be new will be the revelation that there is liquid water in the immediate sub-surface region. One implication would be that the earlier satellite data of massive amounts of sub-surface water -- in the form of permafrost -- will have to be revised. This would mean that it could be fairly trivial to sink a shallow well and draw up liquid water. Whether it's sweetwater or "brine" is yet to be determined.

My theory is that the bitter cold temperatures reported in the Martian air are meaningless WRT the ground temperature. Some time ago it was reported that there was a dramatic air temperature gradient, with the air at the surface level being very warm, IIRC in the 70 deg. F range.

The extremely thin Martian air would be a very poor conductor, so, it would not be very effective at bleeding off the ground heat either by conduction or convection.

Meanwhile, the ground would continue to soak up heat from the Sun, and retain it. If there is residual heat from the core, it could contribute to maintaining the heat. In essence, it would be sort of a "greenhouse effect", only based in the soil, rather than the atmosphere.

A "warm, wet Mars" from the ground level on down could easily be teeming with life. (And, those "blueberries" might actually be turds afterall!)

[Dog]

will not 'fess up to the obvious evidence of life found by the rovers

Life??

Did I miss something?

[Cold Heat]

Interesting take Don.

I will have to agree, the announcement of life on Mars would be delayed as they do not know how to do it.

Like with most facts, you get it out and get it ALL out!

But, I shall await the dribs and dribbles as govt. is all too prone to do.

[LRS]

And, those "blueberries" might actually be turds afterall!)

I wonder if they found a little poem on a near by rock in Martian, that goes something like:

"Those who write on toilet walls..."

[BlazingArizona]

A "warm, wet Mars" from the ground level on down could easily be teeming with life. (And, those "blueberries" might actually be turds afterall!)

So there's still hope for my elk scat hypothesis!

[Socks C.]

Don, ALL . . . mY NamE IS Socks C. Iyam one of pHil v.'s associZates. Iyam sorry to repoRt that Mr. V is going through a bit of a bAd patch. Early in the day at his pLace of eMplowment hiz eMployur had to resourt to the tranquilizer gun and dart'em. Seams he wuz babblin and raving and threatening harm tu cusstomers. I wUz ther. He slipped me th PING LIST and th pass code to hiz 'puuter and hiz last words (I think) before the jacket an gag wuz, "Marz . . . gotta go to marz . . . ping marz . . ." they were az gentile az possible . . . He put up a good fight, buT they gOt 'em . . .

---

If you'd like to be on or off this MARS ping list please FRail me

[FireTrack]

Thanks for the ping,

I just received advance copy of Steve Squyres introduction at tomorrows Mars press conference!

March 2, 2004, Mars Press Conference

Steve Squyres:

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. We are very, very pleased to call you here today to announce an historic finding reached after the most careful and painstaking analyses.

As you may or may not know, Opportunity traveled a little over 24 meters to reach a rock target called "Guadalupe" where the RAT was last used. Spirit on the other side of the planet Mars traveled over 111 meters to also reach a RAT target. As I’m sure you must know, each rover has six wheels. We have discovered that after multiplying distances traveled to date times the number of wheels on both rovers (one dozen) an unprecedented and historical event has occurred.

That event stunned us after we realized a uniquely human invention “the wheel” has now traveled over one mile across the surface of Mars. We have available photographic evidence of each meter traveled along with wheel slippage data adding additional certainty of this historical accomplishment.

Just downloaded as well are 66 new panoramic camera images of the historic, first ever sundial that humanity sent to another planet and inscribed with the motto "Two Worlds, One Sun,” The sundials will continue to reveal the passage of the hours and seasons as the sun moves across the Martian sky.

The sundial design team included Jon Lomberg, an artist and creative consultant to the Mauna Kea Center for Astronomy Education, Hawaii; Tyler Nordgren, an artist and astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz.; sundial expert Woodruff Sullivan, professor of astronomy at the University of Washington; Louis Friedman, executive director of the Planetary Society; Cornell University astronomers Steven Squyres and Jim Bell; and Bill Nye, the television writer and host of the public television children's science program, "Bill Nye The Science Guy."

Finally, we have an entire week’s listing of upcoming songs that will be radioed to each rover!

:-)