Mars Rover Appears to Find Mineral Linked to Water

NY Times ^ | 1/31/04 | KENNETH CHANG

[In_25_words_or_less]

There may have been water in Mar's past!

Water + iron oxide = red clay. Mars is from Georgia!

Watch out for them Dukes!

[DannyTN]

"What happens if we find Water? Will be moving the Muslim nations to there new homeland?'

All we have to do is claim Mars in the name of Israel and report that we found Jews up there. The Muslims will fall over themselves trying to immigrate up there, claim Mohammed visited Mars and it's a Muslim holy site, claim that they were there first, and set up martian suicide belt factories to kill the Martian Jews.

[missyme]

Great Idea!!!!!
Can we get this on Al-Jazerra T.V..You are rockin on this one!

[Mark Felton]

" Hey wouldn't want to see cold water thrown on the Mars effort but one does wonder if this is the best use for our best and brightest scientists. I'd like to see the rationale for that."

If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand. seriously.

You don't have the thirst which has advanced mankind.

It's like donating to charity, if you do it because you expect to profit by it, then you won't benefit at all. Yet, those who freely give to charity do indeed reap the greatest rewards, materially and spiritually.

Those societies who thirst for knowledge for the sake of learning have now advanced humanity unlike any society in the history of the world.

You have much to learn.

[RightWhale]

one does wonder if this is the best use for our best and brightest scientists.

Don't know if any of the best and brightest scientists work on the space program. Probably not. But a good use for the best and brightest would be to give them each $100,000 a year and let them do whatever they want.

[Mark Felton]

" I consider this money well spent!"

What price to boost the human spirit and inspire achievement? Such inspiration is priceless and the reward for such achievement is a feast for the human soul for generations to come.

[Mark Felton]

"The limited data provided by this single sample does support this honest and reasonable speculation but care should be taken when applying a deductive process to limited sampling. Many "great minds" have come to embarrassment through this well traveled path"

In science the game is never over, but we must allow ourselves to cheer when the ball goes in the right direction, if only a yard, before it comes back.

relax. Enjoy the Game. We can boo later.

[ElkGroveDan]

The Mars rover Opportunity may have detected the iron oxide — a possible sign of water from Mars' ancient past

RUST! Now we know why its broken. This'll fix 'er right up:

[ex-snook]

"You don't have the thirst which has advanced mankind. "

Ah but I do. There is a lot to advance mankind right here on earth other than 'thirsting' for water on Mars. Using our bright scientists for Mars is 'brain drain'.

You also have a lot to learn.

[Mark Felton]

"You also have a lot to learn."

You bet I do.

[LibWhacker]

Caption:

One of the earliest results of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) investigation shortly after the spacecraft began to orbit Mars in 1997 was the discovery of layered rock outcrops reaching deep down into the martian crust in the walls of the Valles Marineris. Since that time, thousands of MOC images have revealed layered rock in a variety of settings--crater floors, canyon interiors, and scarps exposed by faulting and pitting. This spectacular example taken by MOC in 2001 is found on the floor of an impact crater located near the equator in northwestern Schiaparelli Basin (0.15°N, 345.6°W). The image covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 miles) across and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. Layers of uniform thickness and appearance suggest that these materials are ancient sediments, perhaps deposited in water, or perhaps deposited by wind. Wind has subsquently eroded and exposed the layers. Dark drifts of sand occur at the lower center of the image, and lighter-toned windblown ripples dominate the center and upper right.

Could've sworn it was a lake.

[eccl1212]

Mark,
What are the prevailing theories on WHERE such liquid water went, if it was ever there to begin with?

"Is it still there?" is my question.
lakes or oceans of liquid water, big enough to make "channels" like the ones scientists keep labelling lakebed, streams and channels... could have what? Evaporated into space? Been converted by a cataclysmic event into separate hydrogen and oxygen? Sucked out of existence by a travelling asteroid?

And what of the Martian atmosphere?
Pretty much NOT there at all isn't it?

Oxygen in the oxides could be extracted for breatheable air.

[blam]

I just heard Shep Smith say on Fox News that they were expecting a big announcement from NASA shortly.

[RightWhale]

Just a guess: NASA is reconsidering the Hubble maintenance decision.

[blam]

"Just a guess: NASA is reconsidering the Hubble maintenance decision."

I was thinking an official, "water on Mars", but, you're probably correct.

[eccl1212]

The hubble thing is not really that exciting an "announcement" if you ask me.
Any other speculation what it might be about?
Bacteria fossils seen via the microscope tool? (film at eleven)

These missions are really frustrating to me, in that I for one, want to see nothing but HARD scientific data that we can all consider. They dole what little they seem to have, like its a controlled subtance prescription, only rarely released to the public by a very stingy doctor.

It is as if, EVERY PIECE of data is being "examined" and perhaps "censored" in order to make sure we don't offend "the folks" or "the democrats," or whatever.

and the data review process, as a result is taking LONGER than I would prefer.

Here are specific, unequivical questions to which I want to hear Shawn O'Keef and company to offer answers (in kind, unequivocating terms, not "we think that, or one theory is".):

1. Did they or did they NOT fix "spirit?"
2. Have they, or have they NOT found the minerals related to liquid water?
3. Are both the rovers still parked where they have been for the last four or five days?
4. When are they DEFINITIVELY going to move?

The "search for life" aspect of these mission is interesting to some of us, more than others. I would rather they just dump it all on us, uncensored, unfiltered as soon as it comes in, and let us consider the data we HAVE to have received... and draw our own, non-politicized, non-theologinized, non-earth-centrized ideas, conclusions or fanciful theories.

NASA TV has been great during actual rover events. But instead of interviews with tech folks about science theory, facts, and exploration of space 24/7 (in between events), we are now getting the "follow the drinking gourd" lectures on racist issues of our past, pre-1867 american history. Or lectures on the increasingly discredited theories and political ramifications of global warming.

It's all bs. I want data... not feel good drinking gourd multiculturalism-- call me a racist.
Bush is asking us more money for the performing arts, and nasa is filling time on NASA TV with politico-mumbo-jumbo... and it makes me want to puke.

Not exactly what it takes to spark the imagination of the next generation of explorers in my view.

I want us to get with the program or get off the pot.
Go or no go. If they don't KNOW we have the mineral evidence we need, I want to hear them say. No water evidence as of yet. period. And the instant they KNOW we have it. I want to be told YES we have it.

signed,
impatient, and tired of drinking gourd crap on nasa tv.

[RightWhale]

not really that exciting an "announcement"

It is NASA after all.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

MARS IS RUSTING OUT???!!!!

This is Bush's fault! He had no plan to prevent this!

</DNC commentary on latest Mars Rover discovery>

[gcruse]

MARS IS RUSTING OUT???!!!!

Don't worry, Gore is on the job.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

I'd like to see the rationale for that.

It's called EXPLORATION -- the basic human drive to explore the great unknown. Without exploration, there would literally be no philosophy, no science, no achievement, no advancement. To reject exploration is to be terminally obtuse.