[X] My Assistant

[ljk4-1]

Hypothesis to Explain Atmospheric Methane Findings on Mars Presented in
Astrobiology Journal

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=19829

"A provocative hypothesis to explain the recent detection of trace amounts of
methane (CH4) in the martian atmosphere is based on measurements of
underground water samples in South Africa and is presented in the most
recent (Volume 6, Number 2) issue of Astrobiology, a peer-reviewed journal
published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. "

The paper is online and free.

[Guest_DonPMitchell_*]

Martian methane has an intersting history. American astronomer William Sinton reported measuring IR spectra for several C-H bands from regions on Mars. These became known as the "Sinton bands", and caused quite a stir at the time, as an indication of life on the red planet, although they were later discovered to be terrestrial in origin. That was a common problem when trying to measure water, oxygen and other spectra, trying to separate the absorption in our atmosphere from whatever is in the light from the planet.

The first person to try to measure Martian methane from a spacecraft was MSU physicist Alexander Lebedinsky. He built a compact IR spectrometer using a gold mirror and germanium lenses, to scan the C-H band.

[attachment=5759:attachment]

The first version of this device was to be attached to the 1M mars probe in 1960,but it was removed when the craft was stripped down to save weight. Chertok also reports that it didn't work, although it's unclear that he really tested it properly. The photo above is the device attacked to Mars-1 in 1962. It's oriented parallel to the phototelevision camera inside the pressure hull of the probe. It was also installed in Zond-2, but after that Lebedinsky died and spectroscopists at IKI took over the task.

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

Interesting. So you do have firm confirmation that Zond 2 really was just a flyby mission, rather than an attempt to drop a lander? (I did notice, even back at the time, that Zond 3 carried IR and UV spectrometers that would have been far more useful for a Mars probe than a Moon probe, which indicated pretty firmly that it had been originally intended as the former. If I remember correctly, the UV spectra were actually recorded on the film images and played back that way.)

I very much look forward to reading your book on Soviet Venus exploration; it looks to me as though you'll have answers to questions that have intrigued me for a very long time about Soviet space exploration.

[Guest_AlexBlackwell_*]

See also two other threads here: "Methane Detection?" and "Abiotic Ch4 On Mars Via A Photoreductive Process."

I'll also mention that Oliver Morton's MainlyMartian blog has a good compilation of "martian methane" posts, which were really topical a year or two ago. You may wish to start here; however, I believe a few related discussions may be scattered throughout his blog, so scrolling through the archives may be required. The slog is well worth it, IMO.

Forgive me for reviving this dormant thread; however, it should be noted that Sushil Atreya et al. have an interesting paper in press with Planetary and Space Science:

Methane and related trace species on Mars: Origin, loss, implications for life, and habitability
Planet. Space Sci., In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 22 August 2006
Sushil K. Atreya, Paul R. Mahaffy and Ah-San Wong
Abstract

For those without access to Planet. Space Sci., a 572 Kb PDF preprint is available on Atreya's publications page.

This post has been edited by AlexBlackwell: Aug 29 2006, 09:20 PM

[Gray]

Thanks. That looks like a very useful summary.