Comments on: Lander Finds Conditions For Life On Mars

Spacecraft Runs Taste Test On Soil, Finds Salty Environment Near Mars' North Pole

[barbaraf4]

"We may have just introduced life to Mars. Presumably, some spores in and on the probe survived the radiation of space, and will fall off and plant themselves at this site on Mars. We may go back in a decade and find mold and mildew spreading for a mile in every direction from the landing site." Posted by downtowner97
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I think I saw this in a movie.

[rafterman1]

===f they had found some gold maybe we cold use it to pay off the HUGE NATIONAL DEBT from this ridiculous money-wasting expedition.===
posted by SharnCedar

If we wait for all of Earth''s problems to be solved first before going into space, then we will never go. It''s a ridiculous excuse. Some day, a giant asteroid or a "super bug" will wipe out all life on Earth and we will have no one out there to carry on the human race. Going to Mars, escpecially a manned mission, will give us the experience we need to set up colonies and ensure that the human race will have a greater chance at survival. Besides, it is the human nature to explore the unknown. If we don''t explore, we aren''t human anymore.

There are plenty of wasteful expenditures here on Earth to cut (the useless Iraq war for example) before cutting useful things like space exploration. In fact, we could send an entire colony to Mars for what the Iraq war alone will cost us.

[midwife4]

I agree, this was a huge waste of money. Lets take of earth, it''s rich in everything that supports life, while Mars is sterile...and who needs to spend billions to bring back martian soil to grow potatoes? No...I don''t get the experiment and I don''t think we need outer space experiments. Earth is beautiful.

[guadalcanal3]

Mortal3 reg. your 8:46 PM post...You just don''t get it do you?...This news is outstanding news...It means that we can plant crops and terra-form the planet....Someday colonists on Mars will be reading about how pundits like you tried to stop it from all happening. (because you thought it was just worthless dirt.)

[feelfree4u]

Re: "Lander Finds Conditions For Life On Mars"

Why not launch our "representative" leaders there, and let them give it a go?

[zerosum2009]

I am having trouble believing that with a little desire--this spacecraft could not have some small measurement it could take--that would, for instance, attempt to microphotograph cells.

I honestly wonder if it isn''''t a matter of national security to in fact find out sooner rather than later if there is or was life on Mars--
because, if you plug a yes into the drake equation--it actually points in the direction of ...visitors to THIS planet being...likely.

Would they tell us that???

[downtowner97]

I think the fact that hydrothermal vent creatures are so completely different from animals on the surface disproves the existence of God. How could Adam and Eve name something that''s a mile below the surface of the ocean, and how did giant tube worms walk up the plank and onto the Ark?

[zerosum2009]

I am having trouble believing that with a little desire--this spacecraft could not have some small measurement it could take--that would, for instance, attempt to microphotograph cells.

I honestly wonder if it isn''t a matter of national security to in fact find out sooner rather than later if there is or was life on Mars--
because, if you plug a yes into the drake equation--it actually points in the direction of ...visitors to THIS planet being...likely.

Would they tell us that???

[yongamerica]

HUGE NATIONAL DEBT from this ridiculous money-wasting expedition. Posted by SharnCedar

I agree, this means there is that less money to spend on the war in Iraq. Heck, all the money they spent of this project could have supported the operation of a UAV 2 F-16 Falcons and a refueling tanker for 1 day.

Heck, maybe we should have given this money to the rich in the form of a tax break?

Or is this science disturbing because it somehow further disproves creationism?

[downtowner97]

We may have just introduced life to Mars. Presumably, some spores in and on the probe survived the radiation of space, and will fall off and plant themselves at this site on Mars. We may go back in a decade and find mold and mildew spreading for a mile in every direction from the landing site.

[sharncedar]

f they had found some gold maybe we cold use it to pay off the HUGE NATIONAL DEBT from this ridiculous money-wasting expedition.

People, we can''t even colonize the frickin Sahara desert, which is an oxygen-rich mild-weathered paradise compared with Mars. We can''t even keep our pathetic little civilization alive. We are pathetic monkeys, tiny little animals who can''t stop breeding and grasping after eachother''s property and fighting here on earth, like a whole batch of miserable cockroaches fighting over a dried-up ***, let''s stop the grandiose arrogance. We will soon perish from the earth in our ignorance and good riddance.

[lovesamerica]

Yeah, lets wreck another planet

[smurfcrusher]

Mortal3: "...Mars dirt is very much like any other dirt. Glad we spent millions to find that out. "

This is hugely important. It means that we can use Martian soil to grow crops in the distant future, essential if we ever choose to move people there.

It will not be easy, for example greenhouses would need to be pressurized, and many mirrors used to collect enough light for photosynthesis. But in time, with robotics, I''m sure we will see underground living quarters there, and a permanent, growing settlement. Probably within a few centuries, would be my guess.

[smurfcrusher]

Bring your own limes, Dragonwagon! hahahahaha! ;)

[barbaraf4]

It doesn''t matter how much lipstick we put on this pig, it is still just a cash cow for NASA (sorry about the mixed metaphor). We will never be able to sustain life on Mars.

[sistatee-2009]

Is there anybody there to TAX!

[lovesamerica]

Quick!!! lets do exploratory oil drilling!!!!