My Assistant
Site Message
Update on Mars' atmosphere, Media briefing on NASA Jan 15th |
 Jan 12 2009, 06:01 PM
Post
#1
|
|
 The Poet Dude  Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60  |
-------------------- |
 |
 
|
 |
|
Jan 17 2009, 01:51 AM
Post
#2
|
|
 Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8791 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
I thought that there was in fact a small fraction of nitrogen (3%?) detected in the atmosphere by the Vikings.
BTW, the lead story on spaceflightnow.com now (sic!) implies that MSL retargeting might be under consideration as a result of this discovery. The story seems a bit overblown to me. IIRC, it was written by the same journalist that experienced some controversy regarding perchlorates in the Phoenix samples...please correct me if I'm wrong, anybody. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 17 2009, 03:33 AM
Post
#3
|
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 600 Joined: 26-August 05 Member No.: 476 |
QUOTE (nprev @ Jan 16 2009, 05:51 PM)  ...written by the same journalist... Craig Covault. Considered by many folks as one of the top aviation and space journalists. Accolades when he was recently let go by Aviation Week: http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2008/11/...ay_for_avi.html I enjoyed reading his AvWeek articles years ago when I had time to go to the library and read AvWeek. He gets leads that very few other writers get. E.g., his recent article in Spaceflightnow: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0901/14dsp23/ Bottom line, there is very probably some substance to the MSL targeting story. Giving more consideration to one of the landing sites in light of recent discoveries is not exactly earth (or Mars) shaking. How much more consideration, we will have to wait and see. |
|
|
|
|
Jan 17 2009, 05:35 AM
Post
#4
|
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2559 Joined: 13-September 05 Member No.: 497 |
QUOTE (mchan @ Jan 16 2009, 07:33 PM) Bottom line, there is very probably some substance to the MSL targeting story. Covault's article says "The MSL rover's launch was recently delayed... but the slip could enable a new landing site selection related to the methane findings, says Michael Meyer, the lead Mars program scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington." I think we can safely assume that Covault didn't fabricate what Mayer said, but as you say, it's not much of a revelation. Given that the putative methane concentrations cover areas hundreds or thousands of km across, I'm not sure how anyone thinks MSL could land "near a vent" or what it could do if it did, but clearly there's lots of time to consider this. FWIW, Covault has a slight taste for sensationalism; I think Mike Dornheim, who was killed in a car crash in 2006, did a better job of covering JPL for AW&ST. -------------------- Disclaimer: This post is based on public information only. Any opinions are my own.
|
|
|
|
Stu Update on Mars' atmosphere Jan 12 2009, 06:01 PM
djellison Methane? Jan 12 2009, 06:02 PM
HughFromAlice QUOTE (djellison @ Jan 13 2009, 03:32 AM)... Jan 14 2009, 10:07 AM Stu I reckon so... after all, all those plesiosaurs, s... Jan 12 2009, 06:06 PM elakdawalla Mike Mumma's name is synonymous with methane.
... Jan 12 2009, 06:16 PM Tesheiner I'm just trying to remember... wasn't some... Jan 12 2009, 07:09 PM remcook For more detail you could probably look at Mumma... Jan 12 2009, 07:09 PM lyford QUOTE Mike Mumma's name is synonymous with met... Jan 12 2009, 07:16 PM helvick Yep Methane and with the others on this Press Conf... Jan 12 2009, 09:03 PM Juramike Here's some handy numbers (source: http://en.w... Jan 12 2009, 10:04 PM stevesliva Isn't the methane emitted from mud volcanoes o... Jan 12 2009, 10:43 PM Juramike QUOTE (stevesliva @ Jan 12 2009, 05:43 PM... Jan 12 2009, 11:45 PM Tom Tamlyn There's some interesting background on Mars an... Jan 13 2009, 12:52 AM marswalker Well researched. A theory is that water, iron ox... Jan 16 2009, 06:44 PM tdemko The methane from most large mud volcanoes (e.g. Ca... Jan 13 2009, 02:43 AM Enceladus75 I hope that it has to do with a detection of metha... Jan 14 2009, 11:15 PM ilbasso The Sun is claiming that NASA will announce that t... Jan 15 2009, 02:48 AM Stu QUOTE (ilbasso @ Jan 15 2009, 02:48 AM) T... Jan 15 2009, 06:19 AM Sunspot The story is starting to appear on quite a few new... Jan 15 2009, 11:42 AM djellison Of course, until the news conference, there isn... Jan 15 2009, 11:48 AM stevesliva QUOTE (djellison @ Jan 15 2009, 06:48 AM)... Jan 15 2009, 08:17 PM Pertinax But, but... what about the story about the story t... Jan 15 2009, 01:03 PM Oersted WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE, RUN, RUN!!!... Jan 15 2009, 01:11 PM djellison QUOTE (Oersted @ Jan 15 2009, 01:11 PM) I... Jan 15 2009, 02:25 PM Juramike QUOTE (djellison @ Jan 15 2009, 09:25 AM)... Jan 15 2009, 03:32 PM OWW Forgive me, but I don't understand why methane... Jan 15 2009, 01:54 PM ugordan QUOTE (OWW @ Jan 15 2009, 02:54 PM) Forgi... Jan 15 2009, 02:00 PM SirBruce According to news reports, the latest science have... Jan 15 2009, 04:34 PM centsworth_II I continue to be disappointed in the failure to in... Jan 15 2009, 04:48 PM Juramike QUOTE (SirBruce @ Jan 15 2009, 11:34 AM) ... Jan 15 2009, 05:05 PM Juramike As written on Fox News:
"(American media out... Jan 15 2009, 05:12 PM djellison The story here, is that Astrobiology is off topic ... Jan 15 2009, 05:26 PM SirBruce QUOTE (djellison @ Jan 15 2009, 09:26 AM)... Jan 15 2009, 06:05 PM djellison QUOTE (SirBruce @ Jan 15 2009, 06:05 PM) ... Jan 15 2009, 06:29 PM Sunspot QUOTE (djellison @ Jan 15 2009, 06:29 PM)... Jan 15 2009, 06:35 PM djellison QUOTE (Sunspot @ Jan 15 2009, 06:35 PM) T... Jan 15 2009, 07:46 PM SirBruce I wasn't going to post again -- I've found... Jan 15 2009, 08:04 PM djellison QUOTE (SirBruce @ Jan 15 2009, 08:04 PM) ... Jan 15 2009, 08:20 PM ilbasso QUOTE (djellison @ Jan 15 2009, 03:20 PM)... Jan 15 2009, 10:24 PM Sunspot QUOTE (djellison @ Jan 15 2009, 05:26 PM)... Jan 15 2009, 06:24 PM Hungry4info If you want, you can discuss it on the Extrasolar ... Jan 15 2009, 06:55 PM imipak Edit - remove silly question. Apologies for the no... Jan 15 2009, 06:59 PM Juramike And the evidence is not clear either way....space.... Jan 15 2009, 07:17 PM Stu Anyone know of an "audio only" link for ... Jan 15 2009, 07:21 PM Paolo On NASA's portal http://www.nasa.gov/mission_p... Jan 15 2009, 07:32 PM imipak BBC piece. Jan 15 2009, 07:37 PM tty The only way to pin the origin of the methane down... Jan 15 2009, 07:41 PM Juramike QUOTE (tty @ Jan 15 2009, 02:41 PM) The o... Jan 15 2009, 07:44 PM PDP8E mars atmosphere is active
Methane plumes are seen ... Jan 15 2009, 07:41 PM Juramike The source could be clathrated methane (see avatar... Jan 15 2009, 07:52 PM ngunn QUOTE (Juramike @ Jan 15 2009, 07:52 PM) ... Jan 15 2009, 08:03 PM Juramike QUOTE (ngunn @ Jan 15 2009, 03:03 PM) Exa... Jan 15 2009, 08:10 PM imipak Active hotspots identified are Terra Sabae, Nili F... Jan 15 2009, 07:52 PM elakdawalla Let me try to explain in a different way. This si... Jan 15 2009, 08:10 PM Sunspot QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jan 15 2009, 08:10 P... Jan 15 2009, 10:34 PM djellison QUOTE (Sunspot @ Jan 15 2009, 10:34 PM) T... Jan 16 2009, 12:32 AM Julius Any ideas as to whether current Mars orbiters with... Jan 15 2009, 08:20 PM ollopa I couldn't help noticing that two of the panel... Jan 15 2009, 08:22 PM silylene i do wish that the researchers did not seriously c... Jan 15 2009, 09:06 PM marsbug QUOTE (silylene @ Jan 15 2009, 09:06 PM) ... Jan 15 2009, 10:03 PM gpurcell FWIW, looks like the observations were purely Eart... Jan 15 2009, 09:19 PM Fran Ontanaya Oi, if there's snow, snow will be studied, not... Jan 16 2009, 12:41 AM vjkane I just posted a summary of a proposed mission to f... Jan 16 2009, 01:15 AM Oersted Ok, we´re all getting serious and discussing signa... Jan 16 2009, 01:36 AM nprev Thanks for the interesting summary on your blog, V... Jan 16 2009, 01:39 AM Juramike Are CO2:CH4 clathrates possible?
If you mean CO2 ... Jan 16 2009, 02:00 AM marswalker Not to mention the levels of UV - once at the surf... Jan 16 2009, 06:49 PM nprev Sounds less stable than me after an hour without a... Jan 16 2009, 03:43 AM eoincampbell The rules page is quite a read itself...
Simple, y... Jan 16 2009, 04:00 AM dvandorn While there will be an awful lot of study and theo... Jan 16 2009, 05:36 AM HughFromAlice QUOTE (dvandorn @ Jan 16 2009, 03:06 PM) ... Jan 16 2009, 11:44 AM silylene QUOTE (HughFromAlice @ Jan 16 2009, 11:44... Jan 16 2009, 02:36 PM marsophile There is one ingredient for habitability that, as ... Jan 16 2009, 10:59 PM nprev Thank you, MC. My suspicious-sounding words undoub... Jan 17 2009, 03:45 AM elakdawalla One of the press at the briefing (I didn't wri... Jan 17 2009, 06:08 AM lyford QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jan 16 2009, 10:08 P... Jan 18 2009, 08:12 PM imipak I hadn't heard of the concept of sub-permafros... Jan 17 2009, 10:11 PM Fran Ontanaya QUOTE (imipak @ Jan 17 2009, 11:11 PM) I ... Jan 18 2009, 02:58 PM silylene From Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/re... Jan 18 2009, 02:24 AM sci44 QUOTE (silylene @ Jan 18 2009, 02:24 AM) ... Jan 18 2009, 12:04 PM AndyG I'm having a hard time getting my head around ... Jan 18 2009, 02:36 PM centsworth_II QUOTE (AndyG @ Jan 18 2009, 09:36 AM) how... Jan 18 2009, 06:24 PM nprev Good analysis, Sily; thanks!
The issue at ha... Jan 18 2009, 08:05 AM centsworth_II QUOTE (nprev @ Jan 18 2009, 03:05 AM) The... Jan 18 2009, 09:50 AM centsworth_II Remember about a year ago, NASA was deciding which... Jan 18 2009, 09:39 AM HughFromAlice QUOTE (silylene @ Jan 18 2009, 11:54 AM) ... Jan 18 2009, 10:46 AM nprev Oh, definitely it was deliberate; my only question... Jan 18 2009, 09:17 PM djellison For information - we have discussed the biology is... Jan 19 2009, 03:45 PM ngunn I'd been chewing this over and come to the sam... Jan 19 2009, 04:19 PM Juramike Mars methane map made APOD.
Global map of methane... Jan 19 2009, 04:26 PM MarsIsImportant Much of the known plumes seem to originate from th... Jan 19 2009, 05:37 PM nprev Doug, I support the decision because the rationale... Jan 19 2009, 05:46 PM SpaceListener QUOTE The plumes of methane appeared over northern... Jan 19 2009, 07:36 PM ArMaP Sorry for this question from someone that does not... Jan 19 2009, 10:27 PM Juramike That is an EXCELLENT question.
It would imply one... Jan 19 2009, 11:26 PM aggieastronaut it seems someone else answered the question before... Jan 19 2009, 11:28 PM Juramike And I think I know why in this particular case it... Jan 19 2009, 11:58 PM |
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 17th December 2024 - 05:10 AM |
|
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |
|
