Scientists believe Mars lander exposed ice crumbs

[darkstar]

Source: Yahoo

LOS ANGELES - Scientists believe NASA's Phoenix Mars lander exposed bits of ice while digging in the soil of the Martian arctic in recent days.

Principal investigator Peter Smith said Thursday that crumbs of bright material seen in the trench have since vanished. He says that means it must have been frozen water that vaporized after being exposed.

Scientists had also considered whether the specks might be salt. Smith points out that salt wouldn't have vaporized.

The lander is on a mission to discover whether the polar environment could be favorable for primitive life to emerge.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080620/ap_on_sc/phoenix_mars

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. This is a good sign...

I'm cautiously optimistic. :woohoo:

[trusty elf]

12. So's this!

:D

[Kutjara]

2. There's a third possibility.

It could be life that skedaddled out of the way once its habitat was disturbed. ;)

[David Zephyr]

3. I was just at JPL last week where the Mars Space Lab is now under way.

I believe it was probably ice. Europa is covered with ice with water underneath it.

Water, sunlight, DNA from comets = life.

I am a space enthusiast and have been since I was a little boy.

The work on Mars by the Rovers and now the Phoenix and the launch next year of the Mars Space Lab to land in 2010 is really exciting stuff.

Thanks darkstar for posting this story here in LBN.

And here's an equaly exciting story for those who might have missed it: http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080619/sc_space/closinginonextrasolarearths

[ReverendDeuce]

27. My ALMOST contrarian viewpoint...

I am not 100% convinced of the whole "distant origin" theory, with DNA arriving on comets. It still doesn't explain where the DNA originated.

I think it's equally as likely that conditions that existed during the creation of Earth caused the "reaction" that initiated a process towards the evolution of single-celled organisms. There certainly was not DNA overnight, but I believe it to have "happened" as a result of the flourishing complexity of this initial "living" matter. Obviously, if we had the benefit of going back to that time to examine what happened, we probably wouldn't even recognize it.

I thoroughly believe that the universe is teaming with "life", and I am equally certain that it is not all easily recognizable by us as "life as we know it."

Our point of view is colored by our own self-realization and observed effects we have here on Earth. Who is to say that carbon-based life is universally preferable to silicon? Who is to say that molten sodium pools in a distance star system with a completely different set of "natural parameters" cannot harbor some form of life capable of feeling emotion?

Just my two cents.

[postulater]

4. They've uncovered The Other One!

[darkstar]

6. Or The New Potato Caboose

:hi:

[The Liberal Thinker]

5. It looked to me like they'd uncovered some surface.

Looked like something buried beneath the sands.

[bluerum]

7. There are many crystalline materials that could have evaporated or sublimed

after being exposed to direct sunlight in negligible atmosphere.

[The Doctor.]

8. Right, but water is high on the list.

I'd have to know what the surface and soil temperature was before speculating, but in such a rarified atmosphere the possibilities are fair.

[Hugabear]

9. $420M to find out that there's a little bit of ice on Mars?

With so many problems here on Earth, why must we continue throwing good money like this away? I, for one, would much rather see that money - as well as all the other billions that we're pumping into NASA - go into fixing our education system, or perhaps to shore up Social Security, or even towards universal health coverage.

Not necessarily against space exploration, but we have more pressing priorities right now. If a private consortium wants to do this, then by all means let them go for it.

[Frank Cannon]

13. $420 million = two DAYS in Iraq

If we're going to "throw money away", I would much rather it be done this way than that.

[bluerum]

15. This $20 mil has employed hundreds of people and furthered our understanding

of the universe, science and engineering.

Some obscure engineering technique used on this mission could end up saving your life some day, or making cheap renewable energy possible.

And don't think that these programs have no positive impact on our educational systems - they do - from pre-school programs all the way through post doctoral programs.

Science missions are one of the most important things we can do from many perspectives. They secure our futures. Think of it as an open source classroom. If nothing else it is one big educational program.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

21. I had a person say to me recently we should stop NASA programs and focus on creating jobs

I pointed out that NASA does create jobs and that both he and I know people who work for NASA either directly or indirectly. I mentioned how for every person NASA directly employees to work on the Mars Lander project, due to the nature of how NASA contracts out jobs and how those contractors then contract out other areas of their required labor force, they're creating jobs all the way down the line. All of these employed people are paying SS taxes, Federal taxes, State and Local taxes, and stimulating the economy.

[Posteritatis]

25. I assume he ignored all that and repeated his initial statement?

The contempt for NASA (or space exploration in general) seems to almost be a religious thing more than anything else. The people who complain about the government funding space exploration want it to stop doing so, and they'd complain if a private organization did instead because they weren't donating it to insert-cause-here.

Nevermind the fact that NASA's a drop in the bucket. I came across a study a couple of months ago - I need to dig it up again - where NASA tried to figure out what the general public thought their budget was. Far, far too many people guessed it was 25-50% of the national budget, with several placing it higher than national defense. (Even Canada's defense budget is higher than NASA's these days.)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

29. He actually said he'd never thought it that way before

He's more or less a reasonable person. He's just lacking in his critical thinking skills. Which makes him easy prey for a great deal of RW talking points. The good thing is that when I explain things to him he does usually understand that he's been being manipulated.

I agree with everything else you said. I really don't understand why some people have such a negative reaction to space exploration. It stimulates minds and our economy at the same time.

[high density]

18. At least it gives us some decent jobs

It's rare these days that the government subsidizes high tech jobs in our own country.

[cobalt1999]

20. There will always be problems here on Earth

Name one year in the history of human civilization that didn't have issues. So according to your line of thinking, we should never invest in pure science.

I have to say that is extremely short sighted and the money is small compared to the money spent on soda, cigarettes, beer on a weekly basis in this country.

[gristy]

10. If it was water ice, how could a few inches of soil have kept it from subliming?

Doesn't make sense to me. How can a few inches of soil make a difference?

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. It kept direct sunlight off it?

The overall temperature is very low there, but direct sunlight, with very little atmosphere, could be quite strong. :shrug:

[melody]

11. Just don't let Bush get near it with a straw

On second thought, it couldn't do more damage.

[Dogmudgeon]

16. Could it be solidified CO2?

Any thoughts?

--p!

[psychopomp]

17. Good discussion here:

http://www.reddit.com/info/6o5ss/comments/c04ezes

[Dogmudgeon]

19. Thanks!

:hi:

--p!

[Supersedeas]

22. thanks for the link

[Buns_of_Fire]

23. Ice, salt... And still looking for the tequila, triple sec, lime juice...

and a bunch of happy Martians.

[Darkseid69]

24. Pic of the exposed ice disappearing

[Xenotime]

26. This pic proves nothing. There are shadows that are changing.

I could do the same thing with some glass and a flashlight.

[On the Road]

30. For God's Sake, They're Not Trying to Prove Something to You

They're trying to show visually what they're seeing. It's much more effective than words. I find that picture very helpful.

[PfcHammer]

28. NASA's not telling the complete story

:wtf: