|
|
Post by nyx on Jun 6, 2018 17:49:19 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by swamprat on Jun 6, 2018 20:50:32 GMT
NASA to Host Live Discussion on New Mars Science Results
Dwayne Brown / JoAnna Wendel
June 4, 2018
NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover snaps a self-portrait on Vera Rubin Ridge back in February. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The media and public are invited to ask questions during a live discussion at 2 p.m. EDT Thursday, June 7, on new science results from NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover. The results are embargoed by the journal Science until then.
The event will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website: www.nasa.gov/nasalive
Michelle Thaller, assistant director of science for communications, in NASA’s Planetary Science Division will host the chat. Participants include:
• Paul Mahaffy, director of the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland
• Jen Eigenbrode, research scientist at Goddard
• Chris Webster, senior research fellow, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
• Ashwin Vasavada, Mars Science Laboratory project scientist, JPL
Media who would like to participate by phone must email their name, media affiliation and phone number to Nancy Jones by 1 p.m. on June 7.
The public can send questions on social media by using #askNASA.
The event can also be watched on Facebook Live, Twitch TV, Ustream, YouTube and Twitter/Periscope.
For information about NASA’s Curiosity rover, visit:
www.nasa.gov/msl
|
|
|
|
Post by HAL on Jun 6, 2018 21:21:49 GMT
Swamp,
Re the selfie.
As it's the only thing there I suppose it would have to be.
But how does it do it ?
HAL
|
|
|
|
Post by swamprat on Jun 6, 2018 22:36:11 GMT
Hal, the picture is a mosaic assembled from many photographs. As they piece them together, they cut out those portions of the pictures that show the arm that the camera is on:
This mosaic was assembled from dozens of images taken by Curiosity's Mars Hands Lens Imager (MAHLI). They were all taken on Jan. 23, 2018, during Sol 1943.
The view does not include the rover's arm nor the MAHLI camera itself, except in the miniature scene reflected upside down in the parabolic mirror at the top of the mast. That mirror is part of Curiosity's Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument. MAHLI appears in the center of the mirror.
Wrist motions and turret rotations on the arm allowed MAHLI to acquire the mosaic's component images. The arm was positioned out of the shot in the images, or portions of images, that were used in this mosaic. This process was used previously in acquiring and assembling Curiosity self-portraits taken at other sample-collection sites, including "Rocknest" (PIA16488), "Windjana" (PIA18390), "Buckskin" (PIA19808) and "Gobabeb" (PIA20316).
SOURCE: NASA Curiosity Mission Data
|
|
|
|
Post by nyx on Jun 7, 2018 19:47:44 GMT
"Bring on the dancing girls and the beer"!
Mars has methane and organic molecules!
The Martians are most likely keeping the rovers running on Mars for NASA.
$29.99 for an oil change and a clean camera window.
|
|
|
|
Post by swamprat on Jun 7, 2018 19:54:25 GMT
RELEASE 18-050
NASA Finds Ancient Organic Material, Mysterious Methane on Mars
June 7, 2018
Editor: Sean Potter
NASA’s Curiosity rover has found new evidence preserved in rocks on Mars that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life, as well as new evidence in the Martian atmosphere that relates to the search for current life on the Red Planet. While not necessarily evidence of life itself, these findings are a good sign for future missions exploring the planet’s surface and subsurface.
The new findings – “tough” organic molecules in three-billion-year-old sedimentary rocks near the surface, as well as seasonal variations in the levels of methane in the atmosphere – appear in the June 8 edition of the journal Science.
Organic molecules contain carbon and hydrogen, and also may include oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. While commonly associated with life, organic molecules also can be created by non-biological processes and are not necessarily indicators of life.
“With these new findings, Mars is telling us to stay the course and keep searching for evidence of life,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, in Washington. “I’m confident that our ongoing and planned missions will unlock even more breathtaking discoveries on the Red Planet.”
“Curiosity has not determined the source of the organic molecules,” said Jen Eigenbrode of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who is lead author of one of the two new Science papers. “Whether it holds a record of ancient life, was food for life, or has existed in the absence of life, organic matter in Martian materials holds chemical clues to planetary conditions and processes.”
Although the surface of Mars is inhospitable today, there is clear evidence that in the distant past, the Martian climate allowed liquid water – an essential ingredient for life as we know it – to pool at the surface. Data from Curiosity reveal that billions of years ago, a water lake inside Gale Crater held all the ingredients necessary for life, including chemical building blocks and energy sources.
“The Martian surface is exposed to radiation from space. Both radiation and harsh chemicals break down organic matter,” said Eigenbrode. “Finding ancient organic molecules in the top five centimeters of rock that was deposited when Mars may have been habitable, bodes well for us to learn the story of organic molecules on Mars with future missions that will drill deeper.”
Seasonal Methane Releases
In the second paper, scientists describe the discovery of seasonal variations in methane in the Martian atmosphere over the course of nearly three Mars years, which is almost six Earth years. This variation was detected by Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite.
Water-rock chemistry might have generated the methane, but scientists cannot rule out the possibility of biological origins. Methane previously had been detected in Mars' atmosphere in large, unpredictable plumes. This new result shows that low levels of methane within Gale Crater repeatedly peak in warm, summer months and drop in the winter every year.
"This is the first time we've seen something repeatable in the methane story, so it offers us a handle in understanding it," said Chris Webster of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, lead author of the second paper. "This is all possible because of Curiosity's longevity. The long duration has allowed us to see the patterns in this seasonal 'breathing.'"
Finding Organic Molecules
To identify organic material in the Martian soil, Curiosity drilled into sedimentary rocks known as mudstone from four areas in Gale Crater. This mudstone gradually formed billions of years ago from silt that accumulated at the bottom of the ancient lake. The rock samples were analyzed by SAM, which uses an oven to heat the samples (in excess of 900 degrees Fahrenheit, or 500 degrees Celsius) to release organic molecules from the powdered rock.
SAM measured small organic molecules that came off the mudstone sample – fragments of larger organic molecules that don’t vaporize easily. Some of these fragments contain sulfur, which could have helped preserve them in the same way sulfur is used to make car tires more durable, according to Eigenbrode.
The results also indicate organic carbon concentrations on the order of 10 parts per million or more. This is close to the amount observed in Martian meteorites and about 100 times greater than prior detections of organic carbon on Mars’ surface. Some of the molecules identified include thiophenes, benzene, toluene, and small carbon chains, such as propane or butene.
In 2013, SAM detected some organic molecules containing chlorine in rocks at the deepest point in the crater. This new discovery builds on the inventory of molecules detected in the ancient lake sediments on Mars and helps explains why they were preserved.
Finding methane in the atmosphere and ancient carbon preserved on the surface gives scientists confidence that NASA's Mars 2020 rover and ESA’s (European Space Agency's) ExoMars rover will find even more organics, both on the surface and in the shallow subsurface.
These results also inform scientists’ decisions as they work to find answers to questions concerning the possibility of life on Mars.
“Are there signs of life on Mars?” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, at NASA Headquarters. “We don’t know, but these results tell us we are on the right track.”
This work was funded by NASA's Mars Exploration Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in Washington. Goddard provided the SAM instrument. JPL built the rover and manages the project for SMD.
For video and images of the findings, visit:
www.nasa.gov/mediaresources
|
|
|
|
Post by nyx on Jun 7, 2018 22:11:58 GMT
For the past few years rover photos have shown life was present on Mars, or is still present on Mars.
Why do you think companies and countries are racing to get to Mars!
Everyone knows there are Martians for sure.
Just like nobody cares for a country that does not have oil there, only if it does have oil.
|
|
|
|
Post by GhostofEd on Jun 7, 2018 23:12:44 GMT
For the past few years rover photos have shown life was present on Mars, or is still present on Mars. Why do you think companies and countries are racing to get to Mars! Everyone knows there are Martians for sure. Just like nobody cares for a country that does not have oil there, only if it does have oil. What are the incentives (or profit?) aspect of it? If there is present life (even microscopic) there are going to be very tight controls on messing with it - hopefully anyway. I don't see the return on investment except for being the first to absolutely confirm it. That's unlikely to be done by any individual or small group so no single person is going to be tagged as the great discoverer or owner. Certainly there will be gains in technology and knowledge. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2018 1:48:33 GMT
Incredible stuff..so theres possibly oil and gas on Mars..based on building blocks..VERY interesting Wish they found some diamonds..instead of blocks..that would pay for all these useless trips..I mean..let's be real..who wants to talk to building blocks..now gold or diamonds..that's worth the trip. 
|
|
|
|
Post by HAL on Jun 8, 2018 21:39:56 GMT
How would the Martians wreck Earth's economy ?
Just dump a few thousand solid gold bars in the main squares of every major city on the planet.
And the bottom of the economic system would crash out overnight.
HAL.
|
|
