Big News From Mars? Rover Scientists Mum For Now

[Shankapotomus]

November 20, 2012
Scientists working on NASA's six-wheeled rover on Mars have a problem. But it's a good problem.

They have some exciting new results from one of the rover's instruments. On the one hand, they'd like to tell everybody what they found, but on the other, they have to wait because they want to make sure their results are not just some fluke or error in their instrument.

It's a bind scientists frequently find...

continued

Edit: "Grotzinger says it will take several weeks before he and his team are ready to talk about their latest finding."

So yea, I got nothing.

[JaneyVee]

1. It's either water or Mitt Romney's tax returns.

[daleo]

68. Or Romney's off-planet secret bank account. n/t

[imanamerican63]

2. Maybe they found Karl Rove????

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. Men are from Mars, women from Venus, Rove from Uranus.

no offense intended to you or your privates.

[lastlib]

14. He ain't from MY anus!

My anus has more respect than that!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

41. tee & hee!

[Shankapotomus]

43. Do you know what that post looks like from the outside?

Scary.

And someday, far in the future, an internet archeologist is going to find your post, decipher it and wonder what the hell we were talking about.

[OldDem2012]

3. Based on other recent posts on this board, does your post qualify as a "conspiracy theory"?....

....So, take your hateful speculative birther-like comments somewhere else because the all-knowing WE don't want to talk about them!

Ha!

[Hugin]

4. There's Twinkies on Mars?

[Uben]

5. Radiation?

I read a release a few days ago concerning the amout of radiation on the surface being safe for humans, but they wanted to see more results before making a definitive statement about it.

[tridim]

8. I'd like to see that, because it doesn't make sense.

Did they mention mismeasurement of Mars' weak magnetic field?

[Taverner]

25. But won't the Co2 provide some kind of cover?

[NickB79]

63. Very little. The Martian atmosphere is THIN

Like 1/100 the density of Earth's.

[Posteritatis]

49. Probably not, this has something to do with the rover's chem labs. (nt)

[Fawke Em]

6. It's whirlwinds.

The Mars Rover itself tweeted is last week.



Curiosity Rover ?@MarsCuriosity

I'm taking radiation readings to help future human explorers & detected elusive whirlwinds on Mars [video] http://bit.ly/WbYPNX

[randome]

9. They found some wind on Mars?

Not sure that would qualify as anything particularly interesting.

[Taverner]

26. If there is enough Co2 for wind, maybe there would be enough for plants...

[Posteritatis]

50. There's plenty of wind there

There's photos of dust devils and the like from most of the landers.

The air pressure's about the same as what Baumgartner dealt with when he did his jump recently, though.

[Sheepshank]

75. Maybe they planted a tree and it's growing 100X the normal rate.

...it has already pushed enough oxygen into the atmosphere to be detected. They will be planting 100 more asap.

[Fawke Em]

27. I think the excitement is more about a Mars atmosphere

however, I like the methane ideas posted below.

[lastlib]

70. Wind, organic molecules, methane--Mars is farting?

[Chiyo-chichi]

7. I think the methane is a hint.

I'm betting they will confirm detection of methane in the soil, and this would be proof that there was once organic matter on Mars.

But I'm no scientist.

[A HERETIC I AM]

10. You may not be a scientist....

But it's obvious you slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night

[ChisolmTrailDem]

48. Love this response because it is apt. Considering the time frame

from the day the finding of methane was announced, it would not be a stretch to speculate that perhaps redundant findings have confirmed the presence of methane which would indicate the presence of either ancient or contemporary life.

[lastlib]

16. Maybe you're no scientist, but I bet you know about how old the earth is...

Last edited Tue Nov 20, 2012, 02:11 PM - Edit history (1)

...unlike some douchebags who have the arrogance to think they could be president....


(...lookin' at you, rubio, you pandering f*ckw*d.)

[Shankapotomus]

21. I think Rubio is unqualified for public office because of that

I knew "peripherally" the earth was around that age ( I said 4 billion) just from my casual contact with popular science books and media. That Rubio could not come up with even an approximate figure is shockingly ignorant for someone in his position and power.

He should be literally asked to resign over this as unqualified for office.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

33. At least some presidens could give credence to where life originated.

“All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came.”

-JFK

It takes a true visionary to say: “Daaa, I dunno Whether the Earth was created in seven days, or seven actual eras. I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries.”

Rubio just dashed any chances of even becoming the GOP nominee. With all the scientific evidence before us on archeology and geology for any politician to be so ignorant as to the earth's beginnings, our beginnings, would be truly shocking had it not come from the crazy right.

[Canuckistanian]

53. They already know there's methane on Mars. It's been studied

http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-methane-mystery.html

What the big news MIGHT be is that they've found out WHAT is producing all that methane.

[TeeYiYi]

67. ...

TYY

[librechik]

12. I hope it's fossils

that would seal the deal, wouldn't it?

It's probably just some substance that only living things can produce. Either way, ther is clearly life--and water--on Mars.

[Setsuna1972]

13. Oh wow

I'll take a guess and bet that NASA has detected something which would confirm Mars was able to support life...or perhaps still does

I'm not expecting The Engineers from Prometheus showing up, but you never know...

[frogmarch]

15. Methane? If so, I

hope it's for real this time.

[Javaman]

17. They will do their usual vague reveal of maybe something

cool that possibly happened which resulted in an interesting rock that perhaps could be a marker for potentially key component to a building block of a portion of life. But they aren't 100% sure.

I'm not slamming NASA but I get really tired of these various qualified comments from them so as not to cause a stir among the religious right.

Show me cool pictures, give me fantastic stats on geology, show me evidence of water (or even water for that matter), give me the results of drilling and atmosphere tests, but please stop it with the vague announcements that are further blunted by, "we can't tell you right now, but, hold on to your seats, we will be able to tell you several months from now!!"

Personally, I preferred the "tweets" from the lander. At least those were humorous and insightful.

Yeah, I'm cranky this morning, "get off my lawn!"

[Warren DeMontague]

32. You know, if they found a crab-like thing crawling around there, itd be all over.

But odds are any Martian life is bacterial, so its not a case of showing the jeus people a purple cactus and sayong "here".

I want them to be careful and sure. Thats how science works. I agree its been a long wait, though.

[Posteritatis]

52. I very much doubt they're hedging their words to avoid offending the religious right.

In fact I'd go so far as to say that the NASA scientists probably can't find two shits to give about what the religious right thinks. The qualified statements are because you don't go off half-cocked announcing discoveries you aren't sure about, even if you can be perfectly okay saying you're chasing something that looks cool.

[randome]

56. Yeah, I feel the same way.

Rover after Rover reporting back 'maybe' and 'looks like'. Over and over again.

[longship]

18. Fun!

It is going to be something chemical. That's what SAM does, I think.

I will guess it is an organic chemical.

[Lint Head]

19. Mars Bars actually come from Mars!

[Lawlbringer]

20. They struck Oil.

Suddenly everyone will want to fund the space program.

[Taverner]

24. OMG I could see that

Let's just say there was life on Mars once, abundant life - and it all died.

There would be fossil fuels there...

[johnd83]

54. That actally may not be as crazy as it sounds

If there was ancient life they may find hydrocarbon remains (ie oil or coal or something similar). Methane may not indicate life because it is found from cosmic origin rather than organic origin.

[Taverner]

22. Underground aquifers?

Don't laugh - it could be the case...

[Shankapotomus]

28. imo, I don't know how

they won't find liquids on Mars when they already have pictures of ice at the poles. Never understood that disconnect. Unless, as I've heard claimed, it turns directly from a solid to a gas but I've seen no confirmation of this either.

[Taverner]

31. But underground - there might be a water table

Even though Mars is geologically dead, there would be enough heat to keep the water melted from pressure alone.

[Shankapotomus]

36. This is the northern ice cap on mars

This is totally just an unscientific hunch but, i think once they get a rover up there, they're going to find ice.

[randome]

23. Curiosity found a nest of Ann Coulters!

[Shankapotomus]

38. A sub-species of Trumps' hair nt

[RKP5637]

29. Maybe they found Jimmy Hoffa? n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

30. Wow. What is it about space and science that makes people unable to do anything except crack jokes?

Let me say, first off, I'm all for jokes. But: If they found life, verifiable, independently originated life, it could be one of the biggest discoveries in human history.

So invariably the next move is to start whining about how much money the rover cost.

[Posteritatis]

51. People do have a knack for just mocking something they don't get

DU's usually particularly bad for science posts, even though the place has matured considerably since we Bombed The Mooooooon~.

My main reaction to this one was "argh! you bastards! I'd rather you say nothing until you're ready than drag me along like this! But I'm going to be dutifully reloading NASA's press sites like some kind of malign parcel tracking page anyway! because I know you're manipulating me and I just don't care," followed by wild speculation, with the snark around fifth on the priority list.

(Also: hell, if they found life that was demonstrably brought over from Earth, the fact that it's still around there would be news on its own.)

[Warren DeMontague]

65. That's my first question, too. Is it of independent origin or planetary cross-contamination?

Either is, of course, a fascinating bit of new knowledge.

[Posteritatis]

66. Yeah; *if* it's life I'd lay even odds on either explanation

Certainly hoping for it to be local if that's the case, but both have some pretty awesome implications.

[Logical]

69. Lighten up, wtf is wrongbwith jokes until we know what they found?

[Warren DeMontague]

74. Nothing.

I just think the story is interesting, too. I mean, indications seem to point to it being some sort of discovery pertaining to life. That would be pretty big news.

But, again, I'm really not opposed to jokes.

[Logical]

79. Exciting stuff I agree! I hope it is life too! Story of the century because....

That means other planets we are finding now could have it also!!

[Warren DeMontague]

80. If life originated independently in two places in our solar system, it's likely everywhere.

That's the big take-away, I think, and a reasonable one at that.

[ecstatic]

73. I think it's because the article leaves us guessing

First of all, that irritating. Just say what the discovery is.

In the meantime, what else is there to do but crack jokes or try to guess what has been discovered?

[MFM008]

77. They say its one for the History books.

http://www.space.com/18565-mars-rover-curiosity-discovery-mystery.html

[Warren DeMontague]

78. So cool.

Maybe they can announce it on Dec. 12, and freak out the Mayan Calendar people.

[stlsaxman]

34. living organisms

[HopeHoops]

35. I already know what it is. Proof of liquid water flow. It's like a pregnancy test...

... you don't want to call your mom until you're sure.

[Tree-Hugger]

37. Spiders?

[randome]

39. Turkeys. Really big ones, too.

[hifiguy]

40. They saw this guy and his

Illudium-235 Space Modulator:

[fearnobush]

42. My guess is evidence of bacterial life or...

Bacterial life itself. That would be the greatest biological discovery in human history.

[Eddie Haskell]

44. They sampled the face and found a zit.

[pokerfan]

45. I believe the picture speaks for itself

[Liberal_in_LA]

46. martians?

[Science Geek]

55. Actually, yes, probably...

...just very small ones, bacteria.

At least that's my thinking. They were analyzing soil samples. If the soil was even remotely moist, it's probably crawling with bacteria, as is probably any moist soil anywhere in the universe. Many bacteria are extremely hardy and adaptive. Life finds a way.

[Liberal_in_LA]

64. that would be an amazing find.

[MineralMan]

47. It's Mars that's made of green cheese, not the Moon.

That's the discovery, I'm sure.

[Bosonic]

57. uhoh

[doc03]

58. They found a Sasquatch footprint. Why not he seems to be everywhere.

Those clowns from Animal Plant were in Rhode Island looking for him last night. They are going to get desperate and dress BoBo in a Sasquatch suit pretty soon.

[LiberalAndProud]

59. It's about the face. Right?

Richard Hoagland will be so proud.







(I'm kidding!)

[Kingofalldems]

60. I used to love to listen to him on Art Bell.

[LiberalAndProud]

62. I laughed at his ability to deceive himself.

He was successful at getting NASA to take the images of the face, and then he wouldn't accept what the image clearly showed. He was endlessly entertaining, I must admit.

[Poll_Blind]

61. Martian silverfish. You heard it here first. nt

PB

[LeftyMom]

71. The rover came 'round a rock and bumped into a Starbucks.

They're fucking everywhere.

[burrowowl]

72. K&R

[Viking12]

76. What is Obama hiding!?!!!???!!!