Hmmmmm?
Posted on 01/09/2004 5:45:17 PM PST by LibWhacker
Less than a week after landing on Mars, the U.S. Spirit spacecraft has found possible evidence that water once flowed on the now-barren planet, the goal of the mission. The scientists are cautious about their interpretation.
Although the Spirit robotic rover has not yet begun its trek over Martian terrain, one of its scientific instruments has remotely detected small amounts of a mineral in nearby soil that hint of ancient water.
The instrument that did this is an infrared camera designed to sense the composition of material from afar by measuring heat emissions.
Mars mission scientist Phil Christensen says the presence of the mineral, called carbonate, might mean its is a remnant of rocks that formed in water from dissolved carbonate particles.
"So it might be that this carbonate actually does indeed have to do with the water that we came to look for," he said.
But Mr. Christensen warns that the mineral does not necessarily mean the landing site called Gusev Crater was an ancient lake, as is believed. The carbonate could have come from atmospheric dust that interacted with rocks and soil without water present.
The six-wheeled robotic explorer will help them determine the answer by examining rocks and soil closely when it eventually departs the Spirit lander. The nature of the soil in which the carbonate is found will reveal a lot.
Cornell University researcher Steven Squyres says if it is in wind-blown dust, it probably came from elsewhere and says nothing about a watery past for Gusev Crater. But if the soil that contains carbonate is coarse, like water sediments, that is evidence that the crater is an ancient lake bed.
"I think we're going to be chasing this carbonate story [for] weeks, months maybe," he said. "What we can do as we start to head out across the countryside is we can look at different patches of soil and we can measure the carbonate abundance is different kinds of soil."
The rover's expedition to do this has been delayed because airbags that cushioned the landing cannot be fully retracted and continue to block its path down Spirit's front ramp. To get around this obstacle, engineers have decided to rotate the lander one-third of a turn to the right and roll it off a secondary ramp on the lander's side late next week.
Steven Squyres says his team is prepared to command the rover to dig with its mechanical arm in whatever direction it heads.
"We always knew that we could egress in any direction and that the egress direction was going to be picked on the basis of safety," he said. "That's part of why we make sure to get a full 360 degree panoramic view. So we're going to be ready to pick targets, ready to do science no matter which direction the egress turns out to be."
In preparation for dispatching the rover, engineers have begun to raise it from its compressed travel position, as if it were a newborn stretching and kicking. The process of expanding the vehicle's legs and wheels to their fully extended position is taking two days.
I would guess they would be particularly interested in the disturbed soil at the bottom of that depression.
Hmmmmm?
Can you?
Nasa should be using this:
The Pancam calibration target is, by far, the most unique the rover carries. It is in the shape of a sundial and is mounted on the rover deck. Pancam will image the sundial many times during the mission so that scientists can adjust the images they receive from Mars. They will use the colored blocks in the corners of the sundial to calibrate the color in images of the Martian landscape. Pictures of the shadows that are cast by the sundial's center post will allow scientists to properly adjust the brightness of each Pancam image. Children provided artwork for the sides of the base of the sundial.
ME TOO!!
I FEAR I may Miss the "Wonderful Things" our Near Future may Hold!!
With Luck, we MAY SEE our poor, benighted race begin It's "Journey to the Stars!!"
I CANNOT IMAGINE a "Greater Gift" to those of us who saw the "Moon Landings!"
I TRULY WISH I could see the first "Interstellar Ship" "Go Out!!"
I HOPE to live Long Enough to witness a "Moon Colony," & a Successful beginning of a "Mars Colony!!"
Even the "Most Visionary" in "W's" "Cabinet" have only the "Slightest Notion" of the INTENSE DRIVE that exists in ALL "Civilized Societies" to "Go Out!!"
There is an "Innate Need" in our Species to go "Out There." Apparently, some Influential People in "W"'s Cabinet have Glimpsed that fact.
A "JFK SPACE MOMENT" will NOT hurt "W".
I can Promise This;--IF "W" Commits to a Truly GREAT era of "Space Exploration" & "Colonization,"--the American People (& the World) will embrace such a Vision, & "Run With It!!"
With "Such an Announcement," "W" will "Legitimize" Humankinds' DREAMS!
There is NO "Political Downside!"
It will be Interesting to see "How Timid" our "CIC" becomes.
Doc
The actual presence of mud on Mars would be a mind-blowing development. Revolutionary.
I'm not a scientist, but my jaw drops just thinking about it.
I guess what I really want to know is: are we just satisfying curiousity (valid in it's own right, IMO) or is there a feeling that what is on Mars may be valuable to us in some way?
Later you could introduce genetically engineered plants and other bacteria that would help the plants convert the greenhouse gases to nitrogen and oxygen and kill off the first generation of bacteria to prevent them from producing any more greenhouse gas. Have I totally bungled that, lol? I was falling asleep.
IIRC, Mars could theoretically be ready for shirt-sleeve inhabitation in a century or two.
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