Life clues on Red Planet

bbcnews.com ^ | may-24-2003 | By Dr David Whitehouse

[aimhigh]

..might .. could be present .... suggests ...could be .. we believe ..it could be ... ... could be ... perhaps .... possibly .. there could be ...

Don't you just love science?

[Grand Old Partisan]

Well, Mars is a gazillion miles away.

[Calvin Locke]

I thought a probe already tried to find life on Mars - that is, a scoop of dirt, add water, heat/cool to room temp, and check for a couple of gases - CO2, methane, etc?

[gitmo]

If we land the spaceprobe during Spring Break, we'll get the best pictures.

[green team 1999]

we got two probes to launch this year,will land at two locations,the brits got one on it`s way, and the euros will launch one in june

[gcruse]

Don't you just love science?

Yeah.  Just like religions that use words like ...is...acts...does...
to describe an invisible man in the sky.

[longshadow]

"Marvin the Martian" placemarker and ping

[MHGinTN]

'Martians Gone Wild' or 'Wild On ...', is that about what you're getting at?

[gitmo]

Absolutely. Spring Break at the Martian Beach.

[PatrickHenry]

I know all about life on Mars.

[RadioAstronomer]

"Marvin the Martian" placemarker and ping

"Marvin the Martian" was a program mascot on a satellite I flew. We even had a Marvin figure in the control room for launch. :-)

[longshadow]

"Marvin the Martian" was a program mascot on a satellite I flew. We even had a Marvin figure in the control room for launch.

"Where's the ka-boom? There was supposed to be a ka-boom!"

[longshadow]

I know all about life on Mars.

Edgar Rice Burroughs?

Mr. Tarzan himself?

I'd have never guessed.

[razorbak]

Ah, life on other planets--the holy grail of the evolutionists. Yes, a few billion years, plus a little water and some spontaneous generation has to produce life doesn't it? Unless, of course, evolution is a false. Maybe the next time NASA's funding is up for a vote some more "Mars rocks" will turn up.

[chimera]

I thought a probe already tried to find life on Mars - that is, a scoop of dirt, add water, heat/cool to room temp, and check for a couple of gases - CO2, methane, etc?

The Viking landers had such a system. Scoop up some dirt, add a nutrient mixture with radiolabeled tags, look for effluents characteristic of biological processes by detecting the radiolabeled molecules. Everyone was excited when readings came in suggestivive of bioactivity, but it turned out the indications were better explained by inorganic processes (soil chemistry). Shucks. Try again. The Viking landers were targeted more for terrain that would lead to successful landings, rather than good candidates for sites having liquid water, since such were unknown back in '76. So this looks like its worth a try, if we're going to go back there at all (I hope)...

[ContentiousObjector]

assuming for a second that creationism isn't a complete farce and god really did create life, why would he make 9 planets and a ton of other giant cool rocks and only create life on one of them?

[RadioAstronomer]

"Where's the ka-boom? There was supposed to be a ka-boom!"

Ummmm.... ka-booms on satellites are usually not a good thing. :-)

[RightWhale]

The search for life on Mars is a distraction only, and not an acceptable program for our scientists and countries. We are aiming far below our capability. There should be a manned expedition to Mars underway already with the intent to found a settlement or at least a science outpost eventually. There may or may not be life on Mars now, but there will be as soon as we get the program in gear.

[RadioAstronomer]

Maybe the next time NASA's funding is up for a vote some more "Mars rocks" will turn up.

Like the programs I flew actually had anything at all to do with "creationism". Heck, I never have even heard a disussion about it on any mission I was ever on (including interplanetaries).