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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBig News From Mars? Rover Scientists Mum For Now
November 20, 2012
Scientists working on NASA's six-wheeled rover on Mars have a problem. But it's a good problem.
They have some exciting new results from one of the rover's instruments. On the one hand, they'd like to tell everybody what they found, but on the other, they have to wait because they want to make sure their results are not just some fluke or error in their instrument.
It's a bind scientists frequently find...
continued
Edit: "Grotzinger says it will take several weeks before he and his team are ready to talk about their latest finding."
So yea, I got nothing.
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)daleo
(21,317 posts)imanamerican63
(13,813 posts)ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)no offense intended to you or your privates.
lastlib
(23,286 posts)My anus has more respect than that!
ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)Shankapotomus
(4,840 posts)Scary.
And someday, far in the future, an internet archeologist is going to find your post, decipher it and wonder what the hell we were talking about.
OldDem2012
(3,526 posts)....So, take your hateful speculative birther-like comments somewhere else because the all-knowing WE don't want to talk about them!
Ha!
Hugin
(33,199 posts)Uben
(7,719 posts)I read a release a few days ago concerning the amout of radiation on the surface being safe for humans, but they wanted to see more results before making a definitive statement about it.
tridim
(45,358 posts)Did they mention mismeasurement of Mars' weak magnetic field?
Taverner
(55,476 posts)NickB79
(19,258 posts)Like 1/100 the density of Earth's.
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)Fawke Em
(11,366 posts)The Mars Rover itself tweeted is last week.
Curiosity Rover @MarsCuriosity
I'm taking radiation readings to help future human explorers & detected elusive whirlwinds on Mars [video] http://bit.ly/WbYPNX
randome
(34,845 posts)Not sure that would qualify as anything particularly interesting.
Taverner
(55,476 posts)Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)There's photos of dust devils and the like from most of the landers.
The air pressure's about the same as what Baumgartner dealt with when he did his jump recently, though.
Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)...it has already pushed enough oxygen into the atmosphere to be detected. They will be planting 100 more asap.
Fawke Em
(11,366 posts)however, I like the methane ideas posted below.
lastlib
(23,286 posts)Chiyo-chichi
(3,586 posts)I'm betting they will confirm detection of methane in the soil, and this would be proof that there was once organic matter on Mars.
But I'm no scientist.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,377 posts)But it's obvious you slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night
ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)from the day the finding of methane was announced, it would not be a stretch to speculate that perhaps redundant findings have confirmed the presence of methane which would indicate the presence of either ancient or contemporary life.
lastlib
(23,286 posts)Last edited Tue Nov 20, 2012, 02:11 PM - Edit history (1)
...unlike some douchebags who have the arrogance to think they could be president....
(...lookin' at you, rubio, you pandering f*ckw*d.)
Shankapotomus
(4,840 posts)I knew "peripherally" the earth was around that age ( I said 4 billion) just from my casual contact with popular science books and media. That Rubio could not come up with even an approximate figure is shockingly ignorant for someone in his position and power.
He should be literally asked to resign over this as unqualified for office.
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came.
-JFK
It takes a true visionary to say: Daaa, I dunno Whether the Earth was created in seven days, or seven actual eras. I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries.
Rubio just dashed any chances of even becoming the GOP nominee. With all the scientific evidence before us on archeology and geology for any politician to be so ignorant as to the earth's beginnings, our beginnings, would be truly shocking had it not come from the crazy right.
Canuckistanian
(42,290 posts)What the big news MIGHT be is that they've found out WHAT is producing all that methane.
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)TYY
librechik
(30,676 posts)that would seal the deal, wouldn't it?
It's probably just some substance that only living things can produce. Either way, ther is clearly life--and water--on Mars.
Setsuna1972
(332 posts)I'll take a guess and bet that NASA has detected something which would confirm Mars was able to support life...or perhaps still does
I'm not expecting The Engineers from Prometheus showing up, but you never know...
frogmarch
(12,158 posts)hope it's for real this time.
Javaman
(62,534 posts)cool that possibly happened which resulted in an interesting rock that perhaps could be a marker for potentially key component to a building block of a portion of life. But they aren't 100% sure.
I'm not slamming NASA but I get really tired of these various qualified comments from them so as not to cause a stir among the religious right.
Show me cool pictures, give me fantastic stats on geology, show me evidence of water (or even water for that matter), give me the results of drilling and atmosphere tests, but please stop it with the vague announcements that are further blunted by, "we can't tell you right now, but, hold on to your seats, we will be able to tell you several months from now!!"
Personally, I preferred the "tweets" from the lander. At least those were humorous and insightful.
Yeah, I'm cranky this morning, "get off my lawn!"
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)But odds are any Martian life is bacterial, so its not a case of showing the jeus people a purple cactus and sayong "here".
I want them to be careful and sure. Thats how science works. I agree its been a long wait, though.
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)In fact I'd go so far as to say that the NASA scientists probably can't find two shits to give about what the religious right thinks. The qualified statements are because you don't go off half-cocked announcing discoveries you aren't sure about, even if you can be perfectly okay saying you're chasing something that looks cool.
randome
(34,845 posts)Rover after Rover reporting back 'maybe' and 'looks like'. Over and over again.
longship
(40,416 posts)It is going to be something chemical. That's what SAM does, I think.
I will guess it is an organic chemical.
Lint Head
(15,064 posts)Lawlbringer
(550 posts)Suddenly everyone will want to fund the space program.
Taverner
(55,476 posts)Let's just say there was life on Mars once, abundant life - and it all died.
There would be fossil fuels there...
johnd83
(593 posts)If there was ancient life they may find hydrocarbon remains (ie oil or coal or something similar). Methane may not indicate life because it is found from cosmic origin rather than organic origin.
Taverner
(55,476 posts)Don't laugh - it could be the case...
Shankapotomus
(4,840 posts)they won't find liquids on Mars when they already have pictures of ice at the poles. Never understood that disconnect. Unless, as I've heard claimed, it turns directly from a solid to a gas but I've seen no confirmation of this either.
Taverner
(55,476 posts)Even though Mars is geologically dead, there would be enough heat to keep the water melted from pressure alone.
Shankapotomus
(4,840 posts)This is totally just an unscientific hunch but, i think once they get a rover up there, they're going to find ice.
randome
(34,845 posts)Shankapotomus
(4,840 posts)RKP5637
(67,112 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Let me say, first off, I'm all for jokes. But: If they found life, verifiable, independently originated life, it could be one of the biggest discoveries in human history.
So invariably the next move is to start whining about how much money the rover cost.
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)DU's usually particularly bad for science posts, even though the place has matured considerably since we Bombed The Mooooooon~.
My main reaction to this one was "argh! you bastards! I'd rather you say nothing until you're ready than drag me along like this! But I'm going to be dutifully reloading NASA's press sites like some kind of malign parcel tracking page anyway! because I know you're manipulating me and I just don't care," followed by wild speculation, with the snark around fifth on the priority list.
(Also: hell, if they found life that was demonstrably brought over from Earth, the fact that it's still around there would be news on its own.)
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Either is, of course, a fascinating bit of new knowledge.
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)Certainly hoping for it to be local if that's the case, but both have some pretty awesome implications.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I just think the story is interesting, too. I mean, indications seem to point to it being some sort of discovery pertaining to life. That would be pretty big news.
But, again, I'm really not opposed to jokes.
Logical
(22,457 posts)That means other planets we are finding now could have it also!!
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)That's the big take-away, I think, and a reasonable one at that.
ecstatic
(32,731 posts)First of all, that irritating. Just say what the discovery is.
In the meantime, what else is there to do but crack jokes or try to guess what has been discovered?
MFM008
(19,818 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Maybe they can announce it on Dec. 12, and freak out the Mayan Calendar people.
stlsaxman
(9,236 posts)HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)... you don't want to call your mom until you're sure.
Tree-Hugger
(3,370 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Illudium-235 Space Modulator:
fearnobush
(3,960 posts)Bacterial life itself. That would be the greatest biological discovery in human history.
Eddie Haskell
(1,628 posts)pokerfan
(27,677 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Science Geek
(161 posts)...just very small ones, bacteria.
At least that's my thinking. They were analyzing soil samples. If the soil was even remotely moist, it's probably crawling with bacteria, as is probably any moist soil anywhere in the universe. Many bacteria are extremely hardy and adaptive. Life finds a way.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)MineralMan
(146,329 posts)That's the discovery, I'm sure.
Bosonic
(3,746 posts)doc03
(35,364 posts)Those clowns from Animal Plant were in Rhode Island looking for him last night. They are going to get desperate and dress BoBo in a Sasquatch suit pretty soon.
LiberalAndProud
(12,799 posts)Richard Hoagland will be so proud.
(I'm kidding!)
Kingofalldems
(38,475 posts)LiberalAndProud
(12,799 posts)He was successful at getting NASA to take the images of the face, and then he wouldn't accept what the image clearly showed. He was endlessly entertaining, I must admit.
Poll_Blind
(23,864 posts)PB
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)They're fucking everywhere.