Clue to water on Mars may be an illusion

ABC ^ | 4/6/04 | Larry O'Hanlon

[LibWhacker]

The grey mineral on Mars that points to a watery world may be a mirage, say researchers.

Grey hematite, the main reason the rover Opportunity was sent to Meridiani Planum on the Red Planet, may in fact be another form of hematite, scientists say, and therefore not such a strong clue to water after all.

The debate hinges on how scientists have interpreted data from Opportunity's spectrometer, a device that analyses the rainbows or spectra of light reflected from the mineral's surface.

U.S. researcher Dr Laurel Kirkland of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston and team published their work on spectral analysis of hematite in the March issue of Geophysical Research Letters.

"[The two forms of hematite are] easy to mistake for one another when all you have is spectral information," Kirkland said.

Orbiting spacecraft were thought to have found evidence of the rare large-grained, shiny-grey mineral grey hematite only at Meridiani on Mars.

On Earth, the mineral is associated with watery, high-pressure and high-temperature rocks. So scientists thought that if they found it on Mars, that would be compelling evidence the Red Planet was once saturated with water.

Although the NASA rover Opportunity has found other evidence that the plain was likely to have been a shallow sea, it has yet to find a single flake of the grey hematite.

"It's not panned out so far in the images we're seeing," said U.S. geochemist Professor Donald Burt of Arizona State University.

Opportunity may be finding the same old red hematite that gives the planet its nickname, eats away at our cars here on Earth and doesn't require nearly as much water to form.

Spectroscopy expert Kirkland said red hematite can mimic grey hematite when red hematite is tightly packed as a coating on rocks.

Years before Opportunity landed, Kirkland and her colleagues had cautioned that fine-grained red hematite can give the same signature as the shiny grey hematite, and what looked like grey hematite on Mars could be an illusion.

"So far, Opportunity photos from the microscopic imager have failed to show any shiny hematite flakes big enough to see, so perhaps she was right," Burt said.

But he said it was still a mystery as to what might have caused the red hematite to mimic the grey at Meridiani Planum.

Kirkland said she expected plenty of alternative theories once the NASA rover data was declassified and the wider community of geochemists and other scientists could study the problem.

[Truth666]

What I posted long before the NASA discovery : Plenty of water... but you are right - in Mars the true beauty is to be found in the mountains - still untouched by global warming

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[demlosers]

NASA rover data was declassified and the wider community of geochemists and other scientists could study the problem.

'Classified'? Whaa, So NASA is not totally in the open?

[LibWhacker]

Lol, I knew that would get some comments. My guess: It's a bad choice of words. Scientists submit proposals to NASA to get their experiments on board various spacecraft and they are given first shot at the data so they can be first to publish. But that's just a guess. If the data are really classified, that's a whole different ballgame. I've certainly never heard that claim made before for any of the planetary missions. If it's true, the conspiracy guys are going to go bonkers!

[discipler]

Quick, bury this information, it is a foregone conclusion that there was abundant, teeming life on Mars. The red hematite on earth came from Mars, deposited here by the creatures who populated that planet when they visited earth. Same thing for the "martian rocks" that were found in Antarctica. The technology required to build the great pyramids and such wonders as stonehenge and "modern" crops circles are beyond anything human. The evidence points to an ancient Martian civilization so vastly superior that they were able to leave that planet, taking all of the water with them, and leaving behind only the red dirt. It's an amazing story.

[Crazieman]

Insert Richard C Hoagland here

[BushCountry]

The Hermit, whether red, green, black, blue or gray is not the only reason they claim there was water on Mars. After veiwing their press conferences I believe them, there was standing water on Mars.

[Truth666]

POST OF THE DAY

[LibWhacker]

I believe all the scientists at NASA, too, rather than Kirkland and Burt. They sound a bit like DNC toadies to me. We know the 'rats are in full attack mode against anything having to do with Mars at the moment, and it looks like these two were just let out from under their rock to do the libs' biding. Can't say for sure, of course, but I'm highly suspicious of their motivations.

[MEGoody]

Can anyone tell me why we should care whether or not there was water on Mars eons ago? What difference does it make to our lives today?

[RightWhale]

The term would be proprietary rather than classified.

[LibWhacker]

If there was water on Mars eons ago, much of it may still be there now, underground. This is crucial knowledge for any future manned mission to Mars. Living and working on the Red Planet is going to be orders of magnitude more difficult if we have to carry all of our own water with us when we go. Also, we can extract hydrogen from water, a key component in rocket fuel (i.e., we won't have to take fuel for the return trip with us when we go).

[LibWhacker]

Correct, thanks! Have you ever heard of NASA "classifying" data on these missions, RW? I haven't (except when there was some kind of military payload involved).

[RightWhale]

Some of the Shuttle missions have been military, and when they were, there was little news between liftoff and landing. Nor were the missions described at all besides saying they were military.

[ex-snook]

"Can anyone tell me why we should care whether or not there was water on Mars eons ago? What difference does it make to our lives today? "

a) - It provides dollars for scientists and contractors.
b) - Another location to outsource jobs.
c) - Somebody is desperate to prove life was on Mars.
d) - All problems on earth have been solved.

I don't know so I'm polling the audience.

[js1138]

'Classified'? Whaa, So NASA is not totally in the open?

It's not a military secret, but the scientists who designed the instruments get first crack at the raw data.

[Phil V.]

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

[NYTexan]

Bump!

[Cold Heat]

The water determination is built on a lot more than the instruments findings.

These disclaimers ignore the balance of the evidence. The hematite has never stood on it's own without supporting evidence and they have that. IMO