NASA Gets A Good Look At Mars Soil And A True Puzzle

Chicago Tribune/Yahoo ^ | 1-7-2004 | Jeremy Manier

[blam]

NASA gets good look at Mars soil and a true puzzle

By Jeremy Manier, Tribune staff reporter

Opening its primary digital eyes for the first time, the rover Spirit on Tuesday transmitted the most detailed photos ever sent from the surface of Mars, revealing an alien vista of deep russet sands, a mysteriously sticky form of soil and a far-off mesa in the light orange haze.

The rocky scene is about four times sharper than any previous photos from the planet, and experts said the probe should be sending even larger, three-dimensional views of its terrain within a few days. Scientists will use those photos and information from an infrared imaging instrument to choose the most promising places for the rover to start visiting next week in search of signs that Mars once had a habitat suitable for life.

It's difficult to imagine life surviving now in the barren landscape around the rover--though mission planners have said one goal of the robotic Mars expeditions is to scout out possible landing sites in case the U.S. ever sends astronauts to Mars.

But on Tuesday, researchers analyzing the new images took a moment to look at the planet with simple wonder.

"My reaction has been one of shock and awe," said Jim Bell, leader of the mission's imaging team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The sticky-looking soil may be the first true puzzle of the mission, scientists said. Technicians believe the probe's landing airbags disturbed the dirt near the rover when they retracted back under the craft, soon after the landing. The dirt that was dragged by the airbags now looks oddly folded, almost as if it were damp clay.

"It looks like mud, but it can't be mud," said principal investigator Steven Squyres. "It's not like anything that I have ever seen before. It's very weird-looking stuff."

Researchers believe Martian soil in the rover's vicinity is bone-dry near the surface, adding to the mystery. Squyres said it's possible that moisture evaporating from below left a salty, cohesive crust at the surface.

[Keith]

I am sending you a bill for a new keyboard, my soda was spit all over it and I am grasping for air with laughter.

THanks, I need that today, good work!

[gitmo]

fungus, algae

I agree. It looks like the sediments left when a lake is drained or dries out. The algae and zooplankton leaves sheets of sticky ooze.

[fso301]

I think it's the result of poor camera resolution.

We'll know soon enough once the rover starts doing its job.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Pond scum

So you are suggesting the French beat us to Mars? Nonsense!

[ngc6656]

The discussion of the possible presence of water and hydrocarbons on or beneath the surface of Mars in this thread is very interesting. If Mars had been otherwise barren of water and hydrocarbons, there is still an infrequently occurring but continuous extra-Martian source for those materials: comets! Over the lifetime of Mars there must have been numerous impacts of comets on its surface.

On this website:

http://www.aas.org/publications/baas/v35n4/dps2003/358.htm

is found a list of the molecular compounds detected in the emissions of a recently observed comet, C/2001 A2 (LINEAR): "We detected numerous cometary molecules in A2, including H2O, C2H6, C2H2, CH4, HCN, CO, H2CO, CH3OH, NH2, and OH."

This leads to the question: if large comets impacted Mars, could that provide enough water to cause local flooding and the formation of streams that soon (on the astronomical time scale) dried up because of evaporation and/or absorption?

[asb3pe]

Excellent article, blam - thanks for passing that along!

[Brett66]

I just wish they would land a probe here:

[Frank_Discussion]

I've seen dust stick like that to a surface, but perhaps it would not stick to itself via static, based on what you're saying. I'm starting to think I jumped the gun here...

[Frank_Discussion]

*slaps forehead*

Oy! You're right! Boy, I need to bone up on my chemistry. Thanks for setting me straight.

[Frank_Discussion]

Oops! Missed your prefacing, wow is my brain missing a bunch today...

Still intrigued!

[Frank_Discussion]

Very nice!

[null and void]

You don't need life to have oil. Astronomers have found great clouds of oil (codenamed PAH's Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons sp?) floating in space near the center of the galaxy.

Oh, THAT? That's just pollution from SUV's (Stellar Utility Vehicles)...

[Professional Engineer]

Be a real bummer if the rover gets stuck in the mud.

[Professional Engineer]

I like Hydrogen Hydroxide myself. Scare with science I say!

[Ichneumon]

I have often wondered why there are sharp edged rocks on Mars after reading about 200 mph dust storms there.

The wind storms can be high velocity, but Mars' atmosphere is very thin, so the erosion effect isn't as strong as one might think.

[Ichneumon]

No mud flaps...Hmmm...could sling that stuff all over, huh?

Probably not. I don't know the top speed of the current rover, but the one that landed several years ago moved at speeds best described as a crawl.

[Ichneumon]

What the heck is *that*?

Definitely intriguing. At first glance it looks like some sort of forest.

What's the scale on that?

[Ann Archy]

WOW...Fabulous!!

To think that in all ETERNITY that we on earth could have the only life is somewhat ridiculous.

[Brett66]

The umm... feature in that scene would be about a kilometer in diameter. If these were Martian Banyan trees, they would be a about 6x larger than some of the Earth variety. I'm struggling to maintain my scientific scepticism here, so maybe it's just a peculiar ice formation. Mars is just plain wierd, it has a lot of mysteries.

Trees on Mars?

On this site, a geologist says it could be some kind of radial drainage pattern. D@mn peculiar!

Are there Trees on Mars?

[FireTrack]

Apparently the scientists did not notice a strange black crusty pant suit lying nearby the lander. This explains the apparent wetness, strange odor and fungi Spirit has detected.

You might have something there... Could be the airbags are from the bottoms of used pant suits that her hideous donated for the tax right off. They just couldn't get all the slime off and besides, it helps to seal any leaks.