LOS ANGELES, June 26, 2008
Lander Finds Conditions For Life On Mars
Spacecraft Runs Taste Test On Soil, Finds Salty Environment Near Mars' North Pole
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Photo
This photo released by NASA shows four Wet Chemistry Laboratory units, part of the microscopy, electrochemistry and conductivity analyzer, instrument on board the Phoenix Mars Lander on Aug. 4, 2007, before the Phoenix was launched into space. The Phoenix lander's first taste test of soil near Mars' north pole reveals a briny environment similar to what can be found in backyards on Earth, scientists said Thursday. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL/CalTech)
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The finding raises hope that the Martian arctic plains could have conditions favorable for primitive life. Phoenix landed a month ago to study the habitability of Mars' northern latitudes.
"There's nothing about it that would preclude life. In fact, it seems very friendly," mission scientist Samuel Kounaves of Tufts University said of the soil. "There's nothing about it that's toxic."
Phoenix so far has not detected organic carbon considered an essential building block of life. Last week, the lander found evidence of ice below the soil. Scientists generally agree that liquid water, a stable energy source and organic, or carbon-containing, compounds are required for a habitable zone.
The latest experiment was designed to test for minerals that do not have carbon in them. Earlier this week, Phoenix's 8-foot-long robotic arm delivered a pinch of dirt dug up from near the surface to its onboard lab.
Like a chemist, the spacecraft mixed the soil with water brought from Earth into a beaker the size of a teacup and stirred it. Sensors inside the beaker detect the soil's pH and probe for traces of the nutrients.
Preliminary results showed the soil had a pH between 8 and 9, researchers said. A pH less than 7 means the solution is acidic, while a pH over 7 means it is alkaline. Phoenix also detected the presence of magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride in the mixture.
"It's very typical of the soil here on Earth minus the organics," Kounaves said during a teleconference from Tucson, Arizona.
On Earth, asparagus, green beans and turnips could be planted in such an environment and chemical-loving bacteria would thrive there, he said.
Planetary scientist David Paige of the University of California, Los Angeles, said it is too early to tell whether the minerals found in the soil could support life. Paige, who had no role in the mission, said the find was not surprising because rocks weather over time and bits of minerals mix with the soil.
"There are a lot of outstanding questions about the composition of the soil," he said.
Mission scientists said another experiment that heated the soil to high temperatures and sniffed the gas found traces of water vapor.
"This soil clearly has interacted with water in the past," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona.
The heating experiment, which was designed to look for organics, did not yield conclusive evidence of carbon. Scientists planned to study another soil sample taken from further below the surface.
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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.
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.
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?
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???
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???
Re: "Lander Finds Conditions For Life On Mars"
Why not launch our "representative" leaders there, and let them give it a go?
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.
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I think I saw this in a movie.
Pacemakers
Velcro
metal alloy used for braces (Nitinol)
scratch resistant lenses for glasses
implantable insulin pump
water purification systems in most cities
rubber compound used in tennis and running shoes
golf ball aerodynamics
digital imaging (CCDs in Digital Cameras)
Just to name a few....
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Just think how much more we could have accomplished if we had spent those research dollars here at home instead of spending money to get to outer space.
The new colonies may prosper and the old ones decline, but do not look for population relief by sending the surplus population to Mars.
Posted by Prelgovisk at 10:38 AM : Jun 27, 2008
Agreed, but with a colony or two on Mars, the human race will at least survive. The human population will eventually reach a point where we will cause our own extinction (on Earth).
Posted by SistaTee at 11:13 AM : Jun 27, 2008
ROFLMAO!
Posted by downtowner97 at 12:47 AM : Jun 27, 2008
And then a billion years from now that life will evolve into intelligent beings who will argue over where they came from. The debate will cause a split between the Phoenixians and the Nasamites and they will kill eachother over it and lay waste to the planet.
its a terrible cycle. the people on mars did the same thing to earth, now, we are back on mars, doing to same thing on mars, next, we will be back on earth doing the same thing on mars, then we will be back doing the same thing on earth.........
Maybe we should ask him to help with the crisis on earth.
sounds like silly sarcasm to me. not paranoid comments, maybe on some, but think about it, people are very hollywood educated. to much imagination movies are being watched. hollywood is the terrorist of the people
Maybe we should ask him to help with the crisis on earth.
Posted by fstop100 at 12:02 PM : Jun 27, 2008
He would just take out Earth with his Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator.
bdrlnt4rl, *** is an "imagination movie?" Isn''t that the point? Or do you only watch documentaries?
i will say it a little different. people are too hollywood educated, meaning the watch too many movies and get their education from watching imagination. fiction, people are disillusioned by too much hollywood imagination.
and yes, that is the point, imagination. but too many people take as reality. and yes, i would rather watch documentaries only because i get bored sitting thru movies. ''add'', ya know
Roger that. The so-called "reality TV," which is anything but, doesn''t help. I prefer the Discovery and History channels myself.
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by demwatcher
June 29, 2008 10:10 PM EDT
- "I wonder if the Martians would like a couple of "experienced" earth leaders..I know of a couple that are gonna be out of a job by Novemember. I''''m sure we can find a couple of old space suits lying around that might fit the "The Decider, The Puppeteer, and Bush''''s Brain"....(note to self...don''''t forget Condi...must repopulate the Republican party.....heh, heh, heh,
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See all 37 CommentsPosted by CitizenUSA at 03:01 PM : Jun 27, 2008"
It is really a shame how your hate and ignorance pervades every aspect of your waking life. If you call that a life.