Mars-Rover Opportunity Press Briefing, 2pm EST ("Significant findings")

NASA Press Release ^ | 3/1/2004 | NASA

[Starrgaizr]

Donald Savage Headquarters, Washington (Phone: 202/358-1547)

Guy Webster Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. (Phone: 818/354-5011)

March 1, 2004 NOTE TO EDITORS : N04-038

NASA Headquarters Mars-Rover Opportunity Press Briefing March 2

Significant findings from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, now exploring Meridiani Planum on Mars, will be announced at a press briefing at 2 p.m. EST, Tuesday, March 2, 2004, at NASA Headquarters, Washington.

The briefing will originate from the James E. Webb Auditorium, 300 E St., S.W., Washington, and will be carried live on NASA TV with two-way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the event from participating NASA centers.

Dr. Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator, Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters, will make opening remarks. The panelists include:

* Professor Steve Squyres, Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Principal Investigator, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. * Professor John Grotzinger, MER science team geologist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. * Dr. Benton C. Clark III, MER science team member and Chief Scientist of Space Exploration, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Astronautics Operations, Denver * Dr. Joy Crisp, MER Project Scientist, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. * Dr. Jim Garvin, Lead Scientist for Mars and the Moon, NASA Headquarters

NASA Television is available on AMC-9, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. Audio of the broadcast will be available on voice circuit at the Kennedy Space Center on 321/867-1220.

For a live webcast of the briefing and information about NASA TV on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

[Starrgaizr]

Press conference today, speculation abounds. Admin -- if move out of breaking, please return prior to 2pm EST.

[Starrgaizr]

Some earlier threads:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1087996/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1088827/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1088812/posts

[Bikers4Bush]

So they're gonna tell us what we already know. That mars used to and still does have water.

What a shock.

[ken5050]

come on, ya gotta take a guess..

[dead]

Mars is made of cheese.

[Starrgaizr]

OK: Mars is a giant snow cone. Root beer, I think.

[John H K]

Sigh.

I think I'm going to give up explaining that there's a difference between frozen water and liquid water. People probably should have caught on to that around the age of, I don't know, 3 or 4?

[section9]

I just got leaked the POTUS EYES ONLY transmissions from SPIRIT:

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[ElkGroveDan]

They're going to say that they have absolute proof of standing water (as opposed to ice and permafrost) and that the Mars blue berries were formed by accretion at the bootom of a lake or an ocean.

They may also say that there is heaps of water or water ice right smack near the surface.

That's my prediction.

(Too bad they locked Phil up yesterday. I hope he has a TV in his rubber room)

[ken5050]

Actually, NASA is gonna have to write the Environmental Impact Statement about the effects of the landing..

[Consort]

They found footprints that match Sheila Jackson Lee's shoe size.

[ken5050]

LOL...Non smoking?, I take it...

[cripplecreek]

SEA MONKEYS !!!!!!!!

[So Cal Rocket]

They're going to tell us that they saved a bundle on their car insurance by switching to Geico.

[Starrgaizr]

"SEA MONKEYS!!!!!"

Oh, you are soooo close:
Instant Martians

[Bikers4Bush]

Who gives a crap what state the water currently resides in.

Is it water or isn't it? It's that simple.

Does water exist on Mars? Yes. Do we need to hear about the shocking revelation everytime we check and find that there's STILL water on Mars. No.

[John H K]

Who gives a crap what state the water currently resides in.

Ummm...people who aren't morons?

Frozen water is useless to life. Liquid water isn't.

[dogbyte12]

It's water. However, it would be cool if they found some protazoa or sumtin. However, the rovers aren't designed to look for things like that, so it's water.

If Mars is just swimming in water below the surface, it would make space exploration that much easier, especially if we are able to convert the hydrogen to fuel. Colonizing Mars might be easier than the moon in that case.

[Bikers4Bush]

So ice cubes are useless to you? How about all the ice at the north and south poles of earth, is that useless?

[Starrgaizr]

Even saturated brine can sustain life. There are bacteria in the "dead" sea:

"Halobacterium is a member of the Archebacteria, and has many unusual features. Halobacteria live in high salt, 4 to 5M NaCl typically and die in more dilute media (e.g., seawater)."

http://www.science.siu.edu/microbiology/micr425/425Notes/09-Halobact.html