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NASA Gets A Good Look At Mars Soil And A True Puzzle
Chicago Tribune/Yahoo ^
| 1-7-2004
| Jeremy Manier
Posted on 01/07/2004 3:41:30 PM PST by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: look; mars; martiandesert; nasa; puzzle; soil
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To: blam
Watch for NY Times Headline:
Mars Probe Commandeered by Halliburton to Search for Tar Sands on Red Planet
To: Frank_Discussion
In the upper right hand corner, it looks like there are little pockmarks in the whatever-it-is. Could the what's-it just be some molten rock that was thrown up then went splat and hardened after a meteor strike?
42
posted on
01/07/2004 4:22:46 PM PST
by
mewzilla
To: Falcon4.0
"It looks like mud, but it can't be mud," I love this kind of thinking. When they went to the volcanic vents on the Ocean floor they said "no life could survive there", but it teams with life. When they went 7 miles to the ocean bottom they said "no life could survive there", but as soon as they turned on the lights, a fish swam away.
Clarke's Laws: 1. "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."
2. "The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible."
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
-- Arthur C. Clarke
To: blam
Its the spice
To: Unmarked Package
Watch for NY Times Headline: Mars Probe Commandeered by Halliburton to Search for Tar Sands on Red Planet Or: "Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Coverage More Extensive Than Realized"
To: mewzilla
Possibly. We'll have to wait for spirit to go exploring to check it out more thoroughly, and that is going to be sometime around the 14th.
*sigh*
46
posted on
01/07/2004 4:24:35 PM PST
by
Frank_Discussion
(May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!)
To: Unmarked Package
Watch for NY Times Headline: Mars Probe Commandeered by Halliburton to Search for Tar Sands on Red Planet CORRECTION: Mars Probe Commandeered by Dick Cheney's former company to Search for Tar Sands on Red Planet
47
posted on
01/07/2004 4:24:44 PM PST
by
ElkGroveDan
(Fighting for Freedom and Having Fun)
To: Frank_Discussion
The 14th? Uh-oh, did Marvin manage to throw a spanner in the works after all?
48
posted on
01/07/2004 4:26:03 PM PST
by
mewzilla
To: BobS
""a mysteriously sticky form of soil"" dingleberries....?
49
posted on
01/07/2004 4:26:29 PM PST
by
spokeshave
(TDIDS = The Dow is Driving Skyward = Tom Daschle is Deeply Saddened)
To: blam
Maybe it's just magnetic.
To: blam
"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. With all the money we pump into this progam the least they could do was make up a new slogan. "Shock and Awe" is so 2003 anyway.
51
posted on
01/07/2004 4:27:31 PM PST
by
proust
(Cthulhu for president! Why vote for the lesser of two evils?)
To: blam
If there was life on Mars it could be oil.
To: mewzilla
There is an obstruction from the landing bags, and they'll have to program the system to go another way off of the lander. Not a show stopper by any means, but a head scratcher.
53
posted on
01/07/2004 4:28:54 PM PST
by
Frank_Discussion
(May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!)
To: Steve Van Doorn
X-Files Black Oil? Aaaaaagggghhh!!!
54
posted on
01/07/2004 4:29:33 PM PST
by
Frank_Discussion
(May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!)
To: Chunga
"a mysteriously sticky form of soil" Uh-oh.
I had the same thought.
Bill Clinton has been there.
55
posted on
01/07/2004 4:30:10 PM PST
by
Lazamataz
(I stole this tagline from Conspiracy Guy. I beat him up and took it. That's because I can.)
To: Frank_Discussion
An obstruction from the landing bags...?
56
posted on
01/07/2004 4:30:49 PM PST
by
mewzilla
To: mewzilla
That is remarkable close to how the lead scientist looks right now, I suspect...
57
posted on
01/07/2004 4:32:17 PM PST
by
Frank_Discussion
(May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!)
To: Slicksadick
There's oil in that thar soil! Load up the truck Jed we're movin' to the Hills, Beverly Hills that is!!!!!
58
posted on
01/07/2004 4:36:34 PM PST
by
shawnlaw
To: Batrachian
" Unless they melted from the impact and residual heat of the lander and instantly froze in those shapes. " Yes, something like that...all over the planet.
59
posted on
01/07/2004 4:37:47 PM PST
by
blam
To: blam
Aaaaaaaa! Run away! Di-hydrogen monoxide! Oh! The humanity!
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