New Mars Express And Huygens Results, ESA conference - November 30, 2005 Options

[Guest_paulanderson_*]

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMA96ULWFE_index_0.html

Relating to Mars Express:

"At the same time, ESA’s Mars Express mission is continuing its investigations of Mars, painting a new picture of the 'red planet'. This includes the first ever probing below the surface of Mars, new geological clues with implications for the climate, newly-discovered surface and atmospheric features and, above all, traces of the presence of water on this world."

[Guest_paulanderson_*]

Re my contention about making the critical distinction between the clay minerals and sulphates, both part of Mars' water story, Jean-Pierre Bibring, principal investigator for Omega on Mars Express, sums it up nicely in this new BBC News article (December 6, 2005):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4502018.stm

Quotes:

"Crucially, these are not the sulphate minerals seen by the US Mars rovers but a different class of hydrated minerals, known as phyllosilicates - more familiarly called clay minerals. In Bibring's opinion, it is far more likely that ExoMars will find evidence of life laid down in these rocks than if it were to look at the sulphates documented by the US vehicles. "Phyllosilicates trace the moment when liquid water was perennial and persistent - something not necessary to make sulphates. To make clay minerals requires long-standing bodies of water and [for life to form] you need that - at least with the experience we have from Earth." This puts Marwth Vallis and other clay locations - such as Arabia Terra, Terra Meridiani, Syrtis Major, and Nili Fossae - high on the list of possible ExoMars targets. And it pushes down the list the sulphate locations such Meridiani Planum and Gusev Crater currently being inspected by the US Mars rovers. Their sulphates were formed in acidic conditions - a challenging environment for any lifeform to evolve.

It is a point echoed last week by US rover scientist Dr Andrew Knoll of Harvard University. He observed: "Life that had evolved in other places or earlier times on Mars, if any did, might adapt to Meridiani conditions, but the kind of chemical reactions we think were important to giving rise to life on Earth simply could not have happened at Meridiani." Jean-Pierre Bibring says the instruments on ExoMars should be equipped to look for large carbon molecules in amongst the clays of Marwth Vallis as a possible signature of past life."

I'm glad to see at least BBC News and a handful of others are showing both sides of the equation. Daily Planet on Discovery Channel here in Canada also ran a piece yesterday on the new subsurface ice findings by Mars Express, which was good (and I like DP), but no mention yet of the clay mineral findings.

[JonClarke]

I agree, there is a tendency to draw far reaching conclusions from still minscule sets of data.

What is interesting to me is the increasing complexity of the story, and the diversity of aqueous environments being found.

There is an interesting paper in press with Earth and Planetary Science letters by Tosca and McLennan, on chemical divides in Martian brines (for those who have access) modelled for basaltic weathering There are five major end members suggested, one corresponds closely with what we see at Meridiani, and one with the salts in the Nakhlites.

Jon