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Author Topic: Will NASA release Earth- ... er, Mars-shaking news?
Pagan
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Time to put on the tin-foil hats folks. You have a scientist that says Earth shattering news...then the superiors start downplaying his reaction. WTF is with that? Roswell anyone?

Will NASA release Earth- ... er, Mars-shaking news?
November 21st, 2012
11:17 AM ET
By Elizabeth Landau, CNN

A big "OMG" moment for space enthusiasts may be coming!

We were certainly excited to read on NPR's website that the Curiosity rover may have discovered something "really interesting." John Grotzinger, principal investigator for the Curiosity rover mission, revealed to NPR that "This data is gonna be one for the history books. It's looking really good."

The data in question come from soil that was analyzed by an instrument suite on the rover called SAM, the Sample Analysis at Mars. This chemistry set is equipped to look for compounds of carbon, such as methane, as well as hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. These would suggest at least the possibility that life could have once existed there.

But Grotzinger would not tell NPR exactly what about the latest results could be so "earthshaking" (should we say "Mars-shaking"?). And it will be several weeks before the public may know anything further about the matter, NPR reported. The scientists don't want to say anything prematurely, before they're sure they know what they're seeing.

NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory spokesman Guy Webster told CNN that the science team is not ready to discuss the soil inspection from SAM and that the same policy applied to past results from the Curiosity mission.

"The scientists want to gain confidence in the findings before taking them outside of the science team. As for history books, the whole mission is for the history books," he wrote in an e-mail. "John was excited about the quality and range of information coming in from SAM during the day a reporter happened to be sitting in John's office last week. He has been similarly excited by results at other points during the mission so far."

Curiosity has been roaming Mars since its spectacular landing August 6, which involved a supersonic parachute and a sky crane. It weighs nearly 2,000 pounds and has 17 cameras on board. With the rover's sophisticated instruments, the $2.5 billion mission is exploring Mars in ways that no manmade probe has ever been able to before.

The rover landed in a place called Gale Crater, which may have once contained water. In fact, during its first couple of months of exploration, Curiosity found evidence of ancient water, based on rock formations that appeared to have formed in the presence of water.

For several weeks, Curiosity was parked at a place called Rocknest, where it scooped up soil samples and discovered shiny objects.

On November 16, the rover started driving again, NASA said. Currently it's on its way to a location called Point Lake. It moved 83 feet eastward Sunday.

Meanwhile, space fans have taken to Twitter to post humorous speculations about the rover's discoveries using the hashtag #CuriosityFindings. @treelobsters writes, "That red dust? Actually paprika." @jkfecke adds, "Face on Mars is huge statue of Justin Bieber." And particularly groundbreaking would be, as @TechyDad writes, "A giant pile of unmatched socks that disappeared from the Earth's washing machines."

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glassman
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discovered shiny objects.

this brings to mind several funny ideas...

pirate treasure? spanish dubloons? golden goose eggs?
jack really was onto soemthing then after all?

the other rings that were unbound when Gollum fell int Mt Doom?
i expect they've found metabolic waste indicting past life... that's poo and pee... they found a mouse turd?

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Pagan
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quote:
Originally posted by glassman:
discovered shiny objects.

this brings to mind several funny ideas...

pirate treasure? spanish dubloons? golden goose eggs?
jack really was onto soemthing then after all?
i expect they've found metabolic waste indicting past life... that's poo and pee... they found a mouse turd?

I would assume proof of life, past or present. Especially since the lead scientist is the one who spilled the beans on it. To quote, "Earth shattering news" and "one for the history books".

Whaddya think? Will it be filed away with Roswell, or will they actually tell us about it?

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It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

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Pagan
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quote:
Originally posted by Pagan:
quote:
Originally posted by glassman:
discovered shiny objects.

this brings to mind several funny ideas...

pirate treasure? spanish dubloons? golden goose eggs?
jack really was onto soemthing then after all?
i expect they've found metabolic waste indicting past life... that's poo and pee... they found a mouse turd?

I would assume proof of life, past or present. Especially since the lead scientist is the one who spilled the beans on it. To quote, "Earth shattering news" and "one for the history books".

Whaddya think? Will it be filed away with Roswell, or will they actually tell us about it?

BTW, shiny objects is old news. This is something different.

--------------------
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

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glassman
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i expect they'll find that life was on Mars and got wiped out long ago....

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glassman
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it oculd have been us for all we really know..

ever read any oft he Anne Mccaffrey Dragon/Pern series?
it is geared toward young readers, but it has quite a few very subtle and deep ideas in it..
she puts fortht he notion that it only takes acouple of hard generations to wipe culural history when you have a population bottelneck...

our mythology could really be memories of very distan past....

how many generations have passed since the Pyramids were supposedly built?

how many since mespetamia>

 -

where'd this guy get his wings anyway?

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Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.

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CashCowMoo
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there are hydrocarbons on one of saturns moons.

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It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so many things that aren't so.

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glassman
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yeah, "organic materials" isn't going make the hsitroy books...

history books really does mean pee-n-poo IMO...
i doubt they found a turd tho...


soemthing calcified like leftovers from shells that make up limestone, diatomacious rocks...

urea might be stable over long periods, but i doubt it,
something with phosphorous might if the oxygen level is low.. and it is...

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Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.

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NR
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The area the sample was taken from is near the edge of an ancient stream bed where water flowed steady for over a thousand years.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9231796/NASA_says_Curiosity_rover_finds_e vidence_of_water_on_Mars

No methane was detected with the atmospheric instruments, so I do not believe they found evidence of something living, rather, I believe they have found something that suggests life did exist at that particular location on Mars for a short period of time.

One thing that has always stood out to me about Mars is how the northern half is smooth, and shows evidence of oceans and water and large volcanoes, and the other half has a gigantic crater basin surrounded by rocky plateaus and countless smaller craters.

It's almost as if Mars was cold and frozen, then hit by a large object on one side. This spawned volcanoes on the other side, and melted ice below the surface. The volcanoes also warmed Mars up for a few thousand years and thickened the atmosphere.

It doesn't seem like a coincidence to me that the largest canyon in the solar system is right next to the largest volcano in the solar system.

The fact that NASA is taking over a month to confirm the data before making the announcement leads me to believe that it is big, but I'm trying very hard not to get my hopes up. After all, unless you work for NASA, everything is pretty much just educated guesses and speculation.

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glassman
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Mars did get hit pretty hard... that's how we got Mars rocks in meteorites here... ejecta they call it..

what mars looked like before it got hit is the question...

that's why i like the concept that they have found rocks or diatomacaious earth that would have been made by ocean critters like limestone;
Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera.Diatomaceous earth consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae.

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NR
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The crater that Curiosity is roving around in is believed to have been under an ocean at one point in it's history, so it's possible there could be limestone at the site. That would truly be an amazing find and without a doubt proof there has been life on Mars.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it is going to be something that significant.


NASA confirms rumors about Mars discovery 'incorrect'

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57556254-1/nasa-confirms-rumors-about-mars-d iscovery-incorrect/

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glassman
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bummer.....

i guess we can still wait and have our little fantasies....

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CashCowMoo
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How long did it take to get from Earth to Mars?

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It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so many things that aren't so.

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raybond
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well cash there go your plans for a wife

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Pagan
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quote:
Originally posted by raybond:
well cash there go your plans for a wife

I wouldn't quite say that ray. CCM is already asking to be your "tentmate" on your trip to Mongolia. [Eek!]

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It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

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NR
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quote:
Originally posted by glassman:
bummer.....

i guess we can still wait and have our little fantasies....

Indeed...

If it makes you feel any better, here is evidence there could be life on Mars

http://www.businessinsider.com/mars-rover-contaminated-with-earth-bacteria-2012- 9

The Viking Lander was not completely bacteria free either...

http://planetaryprotection.nasa.gov/missions-past/viking/

If any survived on Viking, it's had the last 30 years to breed. Maybe we should go back and take a look? In fact, it would be a good way to confirm how accurate our "assumptions" about Earth life surviving on Mars really are.

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NR
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quote:
Originally posted by NR:
The area the sample was taken from is near the edge of an ancient stream bed where water flowed steady for over a thousand years.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9231796/NASA_says_Curiosity_rover_finds_e vidence_of_water_on_Mars

No methane was detected with the atmospheric instruments, so I do not believe they found evidence of something living, rather, I believe they have found something that suggests life did exist at that particular location on Mars for a short period of time.

One thing that has always stood out to me about Mars is how the northern half is smooth, and shows evidence of oceans and water and large volcanoes, and the other half has a gigantic crater basin surrounded by rocky plateaus and countless smaller craters.

It's almost as if Mars was cold and frozen, then hit by a large object on one side. This spawned volcanoes on the other side, and melted ice below the surface. The volcanoes also warmed Mars up for a few thousand years and thickened the atmosphere.

It doesn't seem like a coincidence to me that the largest canyon in the solar system is right next to the largest volcano in the solar system.

The fact that NASA is taking over a month to confirm the data before making the announcement leads me to believe that it is big, but I'm trying very hard not to get my hopes up. After all, unless you work for NASA, everything is pretty much just educated guesses and speculation.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/11/18/4128823.htm

Volcanism may have triggered water flow on early Mars

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NR
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While the article above doesn't suggest the reason for the Volcanism, I believe it was due to a collision with a large object. I'll take it one step further and speculate that Mars's moons, (which have a carbonaceous chondrite composition similar to asteroids), are left over from said collision.

http://www.space.com/9201-mars-moon-phobos-forged-catastrophic-blast.html

It is coincidental, but also interesting to note that the time period of both Volcanism and water on the surface of Mars coincides closely with what is known as the "Late Heavy Bombardment", a period in which the inner planets, (and our own moon), experienced a disproportionately large number of collisions with asteroids

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Heavy_Bombardment

It will interesting to see the science that comes out of the next lander mission to Mars, "InSight", which is designed to study the interior of Mars. Because Mars has no tectonic plates, (which has destroyed most of the older rocks on Earth), it is believe that Mars will have a far more accurate record of the early formation of our solar system and planets.

Again, I don't work for NASA, just my 2 cents...

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