Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Mojava on August 05, 2008, 07:46:32 AM
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I'm not sure what to make of this, Mars Discovery (http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/02/the-white-house-is-briefed-phoenix-about-to-announce-potential-for-life-on-mars/#more-16402). I wonder what they found.
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To make sure, they'd need some samples BACK. I wonder if that's completely impossible, - after all the Russians had samples from the moon some 40 years ago.
Anyway, if there's water, Mars's best places may not be worse that Earth extremely bad places that are still squirming with life in some form....
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"WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Phoenix lander's analysis of soil samples taken on Mars has found possible traces of a contaminant called perchlorate, a highly oxidizing substance which is detrimental to life, NASA has said."
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Life on Mars is a good TV show.
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Thanks for that update 2bighorn, I was hoping for a bit more. Nasa data (http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/aug/HQ_08199_Phoenix_Results.html)
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The white house briefing and life discovery rumor started somewhere around one journalist's insinuating questions at the last Phoenix press briefing. IIRC Viking had perchlorate readings too.
To make sure, they'd need some samples BACK. I wonder if that's completely impossible, - after all the Russians had samples from the moon some 40 years ago.
Anyway, if there's water, Mars's best places may not be worse that Earth extremely bad places that are still squirming with life in some form....
One of the things that seems to get lost in exobiology speculation is that earth life probably owes a lot of its diversity to the earth being so widely hospitable to life and to it having allowed for such a long duration and wide variety of evolutionary diversity. It's likely, imo, that life in the more extreme environments aclimatized to them. A planet so much less hospitable to life and offering only as few different hospitable environments as Mars or Enceladus, etc, would probably make for an equaly deminished biological diversity. Especialy if the period of hospitability is also shorter.
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The question of life on mars IMHO is bacteria perhaps?
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Even finding bacteria is a HUGE thing. It proves that life exists other than Earth and can probably be found on many, many, many planets throughout the universe(duh), no matter what form it is.
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Ammonium perchlorate is a solid propellent used in rocket motors. So this means spacecraft have landed on Mars!
oh wait..
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Some microbes love perchlorate so it doesnt rule out life. You would not want your pregnant wife near the stuff but I dont think it would hurt you otherwise. Really I dont see it as an indicator either way.
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myelo, Theyd reported that the rocket exhaust signatures had been accounted for in all readings.. I think it stays in the craft otherwise, if theres any left. Only the pressurizing hydrogen got dumped on landing.
Angus, sure, bacteria.. But so close to the surface with so little atmosphere absorbing UVs and such, and with perchlorates..