NASA Images Suggest Water Still Flows on Mars Options

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

Dec. 4, 2006

Dwayne Brown/Erica Hupp
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726/1237

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278

MEDIA ADVISORY: M06-186

NASA SCHEDULES BRIEFING TO ANNOUNCE SIGNIFICANT FIND ON MARS

WASHINGTON - NASA hosts a news briefing at 1 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Dec.
6, to present new science results from the Mars Global Surveyor. The
briefing will take place in the NASA Headquarters auditorium located
at 300 E Street, S.W. in Washington and carried live on NASA
Television and www.nasa.gov.

The agency last week announced the spacecraft's mission may be at its
end. Mars Global Surveyor has served the longest and been the most
productive of any spacecraft ever sent to the red planet. Data
gathered from the mission will continue to be analyzed by scientists.


Panelists include:
- Michael Meyer -- Lead Scientist, Mars Exploration Program, NASA
Headquarters, Washington
- Michael Malin -- President and Chief Scientist, Malin Space Science
Systems, San Diego, Calif.
- Kenneth Edgett -- Scientist, Malin Space Science Systems
- Philip Christensen -- Professor, Arizona State University, Tempe,
Ariz.

[remcook]

very nice summaries on the msss page. Something else to look at with more detail with HiRISE perhaps?

edit-downloads on: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/main/index.html

[tuvas]

very nice summaries on the msss page. Something else to look at with more detail with HiRISE perhaps?

edit-downloads on: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/main/index.html

I'd be willing to bet that it's far more likely to have CRISM follow up then HiRISE, although HiRISE will almost certainly photograph these areas quite soon (I have no idea when, so...)

[SteveM]

I'd be willing to bet that it's far more likely to have CRISM follow up then HiRISE, although HiRISE will almost certainly photograph these areas quite soon (I have no idea when, so...)

I'd be willing to bet that when CRISM focuses on these gullies they'll find salts of some kind. I'd even put a smaller wager on sulphate salts. As Steve Squyres mentioned in response to a question at Open University, the "water" on mars is acidic and inhospitable to life. That suggests that this AP article may be premature.

Martian find raises chances of life
ALICIA CHANG
ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 6, 2006
...
"This underscores the importance of searching for life on Mars, either present or past," said Bruce Jakosky, an astrobiologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, who had no role in the study. "It's one more reason to think that life could be there.''
...

Steve

[exoplanet]

"As Steve Squyres mentioned in response to a question at Open University, the "water" on mars is acidic and inhospitable to life. That suggests that this AP article may be premature.
Steve"

Ahem . . . but we have at least one if not many more examples . . . which proves that life in extemely acidic niches on earth is actually TEEMING with microbes.

Please see this article. If you need more, Steve . . . please let me know.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...MNGBCCCDD21.DTL

I hope that Steve Squires has at least noted recently that extremely acidic environments on earth are not barren of life but do support strong colonies of microorganisms. What this means on Mars should not preclude that life does not exist. To the contrary with regards to the recent images and future images to come:)

[jamescanvin]

I hope that Steve Squires has at least noted recently that extremely acidic environments on earth are not barren of life but do support strong colonies of microorganisms. What this means on Mars should not preclude that life does not exist. To the contrary with regards to the recent images and future images to come:)

Have you watched/listened to SS talk at the OU? In the Q'n'A, when asked about the prospects of life he mentions that although life can survive well on earth in extremely acidic environments it is not clear that it can come into being in one. On earth, the microorganisms formed in a more benign environment and *then* evolved into being able to tolerate the harsh conditions.

[exoplanet]

Have you watched/listened to SS talk at the OU? "On earth, the microorganisms formed in a more benign environment and *then* evolved into being able to tolerate the harsh conditions."

The warm little pond theory may well be proven false in the near future. It has only been a theory that has to my knowledge "not" been proven. This basic article shows some of the current dissent among "the experts" about the origin of life:

http://www.economist.com/science/displayst...tory_id=5518892

The last two paragraphs are noteworthy. Regardless, whether life started on Earth in an acidic/basic hydrothermal spring, at the bottom of an early ocean in a hydrothermal vent, from a meterorite - the panspermia theory, or in a "warm little pond". The fact is we don't know. And we still don't know that much about Mars to make generalizations about whether or not if there was water on Mars - it was too acidic to inhibit the start of life there.

[jamescanvin]

The warm little pond theory may well be proven false in the near future. It has only been a theory that has to my knowledge "not" been proven.

Quite right I'm sure, I'm no expert on this.

All I was really trying to point out is that Steve Squyres has commented recently on this issue as you "hoped" and that that was (I think, I haven't had the chance to watch it again) his take on the matter.