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.

[CosmicRocker]

I'm not tuvas. I'm not a vulcan, either, I'm an Ionian, and red-hot, ultramafic lava flows through my veins... My reaction was that this news was interesting and that I wanted to see those features in HiRISE images. But, no, I didn't get all that excited. Maybe it is my outer planets bias, but flowing, boiling acidic water just isn't as exciting as huge lava flows on Io, the Earth-like geology of Titan, the geysers of Triton, or I dare say, the ocean on Europa.

EDIT: I forgot Enceladus' geysers, how silly of me

Is there anyone here who will help me drag this poor, misguided individual behind the barn, where he can be taught a little bit of inner planet respect?

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. ...

There is so much we probably don't know about life's origins. I figure, if there is hope for water, there is hope for life...

It wasn't so long ago that we all would have been jumping up and down about the discovery of any observed, recent change on Mars. I agree that these locations need to be be monitored with our newest orbiting instruments for verification, but hey, this is exciting news being released to commemorate the memory of a ten year veteran who has been lost in battle.

Let us all bow our heads in respect for a fallen comrade in arms.

[climber]

There is so much we probably don't know about life's origins. I figure, if there is hope for water, there is hope for life...

You know, what give me real hope is that, let say, 20 years ago, life on Earth and water on Mars were understood a way that as been totaly changed nowaday. There IS life in extreme on Earth, there IS water on Mars today. I'll not related these two facts, I understand there could even be some politics behind this, BUT I feel that we are moving in the direction of "possible" life on Mars NOW. This has the BIG advantage to shake the people that decide the direction of future Exploration programs and, yes, as tsfisher say, they'll may be direct MSL in a place where gullies will be reachable. In my opinion, this is good new because this is one of the goal of exploring Mars and who imagined 3 years ago, before Oppy proved that Meridianii once see water, before MGS found active gullies that we could be talking now of landing a rover in a "waterworld"?