"We must not allow filthy Earthlings to contaminate our home planet!"
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 ...
"We must not allow filthy Earthlings to contaminate our home planet!"
Look at this pic:
Sure looks like there could've been water on Mars.
-PJ
dingle/norwood?
Tar. Like in the La Brea Tar Pits.
Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology. --Murphy's reformulation of Clarke's law (I heard it was Niven who came up with this version)
Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from a rigged demonstration. --programmer's restatement of Murphy's reformulation of Clarke
taken from Rick Cook's Wizardry books - quotes available at http://neil.franklin.ch/Jokes_and_Fun/Wizardry_Compiled_Quotes.html
We have machinery on another planet. Machinery that is beaming images back to Earth. Machinery that travelled millions of miles to get there. This should be a major story. But instead, we are treated to the latest hijinks of Brittany Spears and Pete Rose.
Imagine if, in 1969, when we were landing on that moon, that the news media ignored it in favor of talking about Soupy Sales and Yoko Ono.
No, but they could have landed on a poor, defenseless, Martian waiting to greet them. He didn't always look like that.
Actually, it does look disturbingly like roadkill. I can even imagine tire tracks across it.
I had this thought for a cartoon of the first pictures from the lander would show a 3rd ID soldier in full battle rig and the controllers sitting their going "I told you to carry the 2 when calculating the course!"
Opposite charges attract each other, but once they touch, the charges neutralize. If there is still a net charge after they touch, the particles then repel one another. (Like charges repel).
I heard them describe it as being like talcum powder. I have often wondered why there are sharp edged rocks on Mars after reading about 200 mph dust storms there.
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