MSL - SAM and CHEMIN, Discussion of the science/results from these instruments |
MSL - SAM and CHEMIN, Discussion of the science/results from these instruments |
Nov 21 2012, 11:46 AM
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#1
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 3108 Joined: 21-December 05 From: Canberra, Australia Member No.: 615 |
ADMIN NOTE: Hi All, a new topic for the discussion of the science from the SAM and Chemin instruments.
There has been a very important amendment to Rule 1.3 which is explained here. Please remember Rule 1.3 at all times when discussing matters in this section. |
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Dec 3 2012, 06:59 PM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
And yet the media still hear what they want to hear...
Huffington Post - Curiosity Finds Evidence of Organics on Mars sigh... -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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Dec 3 2012, 10:07 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1044 Joined: 17-February 09 Member No.: 4605 |
And yet the media still hear what they want to hear... Or maybe the fault lies with the left hand right hand disconnect from the team rather than with the media. Paul Mahaffy, SAM principal investigator said "SAM has no definitive detection to report of organic compounds," John Grotzinger said "Even though [Mahaffy's] instrument detected organic compounds, first of all we have to determine whether they're indigenous to Mars" Did they get a definitive detection of organics or not? Perhaps the British approach of a nice cup of tea and a chat to agree the findings would be beneficial. Organic molecules from infall would be expected, effectively compulsory, although the use of terms like 'indigenous to Mars' give rise to unfortunate implications for provenance. |
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Dec 3 2012, 11:06 PM
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#4
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2517 Joined: 13-September 05 Member No.: 497 |
Paul Mahaffy, SAM principal investigator said "SAM has no definitive detection to report of organic compounds," The press release says "We have no definitive detection of Martian organics at this point, but we will keep looking in the diverse environments of Gale Crater," said SAM Principal Investigator Paul Mahaffy..." (italics mine.) The question is whether any detected organics are from instrument contamination or from the surface. Presumably at some point they will run the Organic Check Material through the system to address this. I agree that this has not been a PR triumph. IMHO the best course would have been to say nothing until there was more definitive news, but with media attention this is easier said than done. -------------------- Disclaimer: This post is based on public information only. Any opinions are my own.
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