Mars Was Once Wet Enough to Support Life

Chat about anything and everything... (well almost anything) Whether it be the front porch or the pot belly stove or news of interest or a topic of your liking, this is the place to post it.

Moderator: S2k Moderators

Message
Author
User avatar
CaptinCrunch
S2K Supporter
S2K Supporter
Posts: 8731
Age: 57
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2003 4:33 pm
Location: Kennedale, TX (Tarrant Co.)

Mars Was Once Wet Enough to Support Life

#1 Postby CaptinCrunch » Tue Mar 02, 2004 3:39 pm

WASHINGTON (March 2) -- Mars rover Opportunity has found evidence that the Red Planet was once wet enough for life to exist there, but the robot has not found any direct traces of living organisms, NASA scientists announced Tuesday.

''Opportunity has landed in an area of Mars where liquid water once drenched the surface,'' said Edward Weiler, associate NASA administrator for space science, at a news conference. ''This area would have been a good, habitable environment.''

A study of a fine, layered rock by the rover detected evidence of sulfates and other minerals that form in the presence of water. The finding suggests that if there had been life present when the rocks were formed, then the living conditions could have permitted an organism to flourish. The study, however, has found no direct evidence of life.




''NASA launched the Mars Exploration Rover mission specifically to check whether at least one part of Mars had a persistently wet environment that could possibly have been hospitable to life,'' James Garvin, a lead NASA scientist, said in a statement. ''Today we have strong evidence for an exciting answer: Yes.''

Opportunity and its twin rover, Spirit, are controlled by a team of scientists working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Scientists there earlier in the week said they had found exciting results from the work of Opportunity. Details were not immediately available.

Steve Squyres, a Cornell University scientist and principal investigator for the science instruments on Opportunity, said the rover's study of formations near its landing site show that liquid water once flowed there, changing the chemistry and composition of the rocks.



''We've been able to read the telltale clues the water left behind, giving us confidence in that conclusion,'' Squyres said in a statement.

Additional studies will determine if the rocks were laid down by minerals formed at the bottom of a salty lake or sea.

Opportunity landed five weeks ago near an exposed bedrock embedded in the wall of a small crater.

The rover conducted a chemical analysis of the outcrop, including a rock named El Capitan by scientists, and found a concentration of sulphur rich in magnesium, iron and other sulfate salts. Opportunity's instrument also detected jarosite, an iron sulfate mineral.

On Earth, such minerals would have formed in water and the presence of jarosite suggests an acid-rich lake or hot springs environment, scientists said.



John Grotzinger, a geologist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, said the evidence of water also includes three direct visual observations: the presence in El Capitan of small voids, called vugs; the presence of spherules, and the layering of the rock.

Images shows that El Capitan is pocked with .4-inch long indentations or voids that may have once contained salt minerals. Such voids, or vugs, form when crystals of salt minerals aggregate within a rock sitting in salty water. Later processes cause the crystals to disappear, leaving behind the voids within the rock.

BB-sized particles, called spherules, also formed in the rock. These can be formed from molten droplets originating from meteor impacts or from volcanic action, or they can precipitate from solution inside of porous rock. NASA scientists said that since the spherules are randomly distributed they probably formed in water. If they were of volcanic or impact origin, the spherules would probably concentrate in rock layers that were exposed at the time of those events, the researchers said in a statement.

The rock also has layers in a pattern called crossbedding that can be formed by water or wind action, the statement said.

More study of the target rocks is planned. Officials said they will maneuver the six-wheeled rover closer to the outcrop to get closer, more detailed views.
0 likes   

User avatar
furluvcats
Category 5
Category 5
Posts: 1900
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2003 12:02 am
Location: Temecula, California
Contact:

#2 Postby furluvcats » Tue Mar 02, 2004 5:11 pm

I find that all so facsinating!
0 likes   

User avatar
Corona
Tropical Storm
Tropical Storm
Posts: 129
Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2003 5:30 pm

#3 Postby Corona » Wed Mar 03, 2004 3:45 am

Yes, scientists have been expecting this for quite some time. That's one of the main reasons they've been so adamant about Mars all along. And this is just the beginning of the discoveries. The space program has just also received a huge shot in the arm by Mr. Bush, who so smartly declared the Moon back on a priority list. You know what that means - - - high-tech jobs that will not be and cannot be farmed out overseas. :D A great plan for another great endeavor.
0 likes   

User avatar
azskyman
S2K Supporter
S2K Supporter
Posts: 4104
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2003 7:36 am
Location: Scottsdale Arizona
Contact:

#4 Postby azskyman » Wed Mar 03, 2004 7:47 am

It is perhaps the biggest story of the millenium yet it will not mean much to the average person. Without footprints and creatures to show for it, we can't comprehend the impact of such a discovery.

I think the Mars program has been a wonderful success in many ways, but most see it as taking away from so many other priorities.

One of our priorities must always be to understand ourselves and our universe. Without that thirst for knowledge we will never understand our place in the big, big picture.
0 likes   

ColdFront77

#5 Postby ColdFront77 » Wed Mar 03, 2004 4:58 pm

Water supports life, so beings that we see that Mars once had water, life was a possibility even more than we have thought in the past.
0 likes   


Return to “Off Topic”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests