Nasa to hold major announcement about new Curiosity discovery on Mars

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Independent


Agency is being very secretive about what has been discovered on Red Planet

Andrew Griffin
@_andrew_griffin
2 hours ago



The base of Mars' Mount Sharp - the rover's eventual science destination - is pictured in this August 27, 2012 NASA handout photo
taken by the Curiosity rover ( REUTERS/NASA/Handout )

Nasa has found exciting new "results" on Mars and will hold a press conference to reveal them, it has announced.

The agency has refused to reveal more details of what it has discovered on the Red Planet. But the new research came from the Curiosity rover that has been collecting samples from the planet, in part in an attempt to understand whether it was ever a home for alien life.

Nasa's announcement only said that it would hold a press conference about "new science results from NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover". It did not give any detail on what those results were.

But it did say that a range of experts would attend the conference. They largely appear to be researchers who investigate the kinds of organic molecules that might be found in the planet's soil, and the information that might tell us about the atmosphere.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-mars-announcement-latest-today-discovery-samples-a8386986.html

[Archae]

1. Life?

Oh, would that be a smack in the face to the creationists.

[SergeStorms]

24. It wouldn't matter.

They'd offer some twisted explanation that would prove the existence of 'god'. When you start your belief system entirely devoid of proof it's not very difficult to find supporting "proof" thereafter.

[brooklynite]

38. That's not usually where the argument breaks down...

If your religion is based on "The Fall" requiring substitutionary atonement for salvation, it goes out the window if you find another source of life which didn't encounter any of this.

[KPN]

50. True -- if the argument involves thinking/intellectually oriented people.

[VMA131Marine]

51. The problem is

any announcement NASA makes would be unlikely to say that there definitely was once life on Mars. Because there almost certainly isn't life there now. It would have to be something far less definitive that the creationist could then dismiss as "speculation" or "historical science."

[KPN]

49. +1

[Matthew28]

2. I'll take a guess

and predict that this is blown up hype and it will turn out to be something about the history of the planet.

[brush]

7. Most likely something to do with water.

[Crash2Parties]

19. I'd say so too, except they announced in 2014 Gale Crater had been a lake for millions of years?

Mount Sharp & Curiosity are *in* Gale Crater.

[Baclava]

3. Go robots!

[MontanaMama]

4. Those are kick ass photos!

[longship]

10. But one never gets to see the arm with the camera.

It's amazing that it always disappears in the mozaic shot.




You can see its shadow in the middle pic.

[Baclava]

47. 'Why don't we see the Curiosity rover's arm when it takes a selfie?'

(in before the conspiracy theorists)


Every time the Curiosity rover takes a ‘selfie’ on Mars, we get the same questions: “How was this picture taken?” “Why isn’t the rover’s arm or the camera visible in this picture?” “In all of Curiosity’s selfies, the camera mast is never visible… why?” And (sigh) “What is NASA hiding???”

The answer is simple and quite logical. Look any selfie image you’ve taken. Does your hand show up in the picture?

No, because it is behind the camera.

The same is true with the rover’s arm. For the most part, it is behind the camera, so it isn’t part of the picture. In your own selfies, if you’ve done a good job of positioning things, your arm doesn’t appear in the photo either.



Curiosity’s arm-mounted MAHLI camera took 72 individual photos over a period of about an hour in order to cover the entire rover and a lower hemisphere including 360 degrees around the rover and more than 90 degrees of elevation. It took 2 tiers of 20 images to cover the entire horizon, and fewer images at lower elevations to cover the bottom of the image sphere. The arm was kept out of most of the images but it was impossible to keep the arm’s shadow from falling on the ground in positions immediately in front of the rover. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Emily Lakdawalla.

https://www.universetoday.com/122883/why-dont-we-see-the-curiosity-rovers-arm-when-it-takes-a-selfie/

-------------------------

The story behind Curiosity's self-portraits on Mars



http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/08191059-curiosity-self-portrait-history-belly-pan.html

[3Hotdogs]

35. Is the middle picture of Wall-E ?

[aeromanKC]

5. Ancient Life on Mars linked to Humans

And it was Martians who left Mars to re-colonize on Earth.

[TeamPooka]

6. There's Life on Mars and they're building a wall to keep us out.

[SergeStorms]

25. +1

And they're going to make US pay for it!

[brush]

31. Wow! Astronomer humor. That got a smile out of me.

[Flaleftist]

9. Something else for Trump to try to take credit for?

[ffr]

13. Or worse. If he finds out Curiosity was launched under President Obama, he'll shut the program down

And if they announce that the rover found actual life, he could ask the military to attack the Goddard facilities within hours.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

16. True. One thing Trump doesn't have is curiosity.

[MBS]

32. Right you are.

Also: no sense of humor, no heart, no empathy.

All of these are quintessential human qualities: curiosity, intellect, humor, empathy, heart.
He lacks them all.
Scary to have such a defective human being in a position of such influence and power.

[briv1016]

11. Given the instrument suite on the rover, it might have found organic compounds.

Here's an article from Science Magazine explaining the instruments.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/mars-rover-steps-hunt-molecular-signs-life

[JohnnyRingo]

20. That's my guess as well.

And that would be huge. Imagine the impact that even a primitive form of life beyond our world will have on science and society.

[briv1016]

23. No it wouldn't be like single cell organisms. (Wrong type of instruments.)

Think more like Amino Acids.

[TeamPooka]

26. Think Mar's version of Archie Bunker complaining about illegal aliens

[ffr]

12. JudyL, you did it again! NASA's news may not resonated with the average person,

but I'm sure if it's exciting news to the scientists, it's probably a revelation of some proportion.

I'll be tuned in tomorrow. Hopefully they'll have someone who can speak in layman's terms for organic chemistry dummies like me.

[Bengus81]

14. Got a pic of a McDonalds wrapper blowing by..............

[dembotoz]

15. A Mars bar wrapper

[JohnnyRingo]

17. Obama's birth certificate?

They need approval for funding you know.

K&R Thanx for posting. I can't wait.

[Kablooie]

18. Probably found a drop or two of water.

But that will probably be all.
More potential for life but just potential, that's all.

That or perhaps Jimmy Hoffas body.

[echler]

21. Trump's Brain?

Naw, scratch that. Mars is way too close!

[AllaN01Bear]

22. play the five tones . will be waiting for your anouncents

wonder what the conspiritards are thinking. yawn.

[TeamPooka]

27. They found graffiti "Kilroy was here."

[YOHABLO]

28. Tell me it wasn't plastic bags ...please.

[truthisfreedom]

29. Most likely about the availability of compounds/elements on the planet that

would help us establish a colony or replenish a spacecraft from there.

[DFW]

30. Let me guess--they have discovered a vein of unobtanium?

And they're negotiating with Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver to pacify the natives before ravaging the place?

[MBS]

33. press conference 2 pm today (Thursday, June 7)

https://www.space.com/40792-nasa-mars-rover-curiosity-announcement-june-2018.html

Thanks for posting this!

[Blue_Adept]

34. I love that 5% of the responses are serious

and the rest represent Twitter-thought.

[jayfish]

36. A General Request For LBN Original Posters.

When posting a news story, the subject of which is the scheduling of an event, please include said schedule in the posted excerpt or in the OP comment section.

Thank you.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

41. +1. . . . nt

[Judi Lynn]

42. It's mentioned at the bottom of the article:

The event begins at 2pm eastern, or 7pm in the UK. It will be streamed live on Nasa Television, the agency's website, and on a range of social networks and services such as Twice and YouTube.

Here's more:

What Has NASA's Curiosity Found on Mars? We'll Find Out Today!
By Tariq Malik, Space.com Managing Editor | June 7, 2018 07:21am ET

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has apparently found something intriguing on Mars, and the space agency will unveil the discovery today (June 7).

The space agency revealed few details about what will be announced today, but the "live discussion" will feature "new science results from NASA's Mars Curiosity rover," according to a NASA announcement. Why all the secrecy? "The results are embargoed by the journal Science until then," NASA wrote in the statement.

That means NASA won't release any details until the press conference, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT). You can watch the Mars announcement live on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV. The space agency did reveal the list of scientists who will be discussing the Mars discovery. [See Curiosity's Greatest Mars Discoveries (So Far)]
. . .

NASA will webcast Thursday's Curiosity Mars rover discussion on its NASA TV channel, as well as Facebook Live, Twitch TV, Ustream, YouTube and Twitter/Periscope. You'll be able to ask questions of the panel via social media using by tagging your posts with #askNASA.

More:
https://www.space.com/40792-nasa-mars-rover-curiosity-announcement-june-2018.html


~ ~ ~

Thank you for your helpful comment. I just hadn't thought of it. I will, in the future.

[keithbvadu2]

37. A parked Tesla?

[AZ8theist]

39. Don't be ridiculous. Everyone knows what was found:

[IMG][/IMG]

[MontanaMama]

40. Darn.

Couldn’t they at least found a Target?

[packman]

43. O.K. - That set up the joke

If the U.S. government found a Target, they'd bomb it.

[MontanaMama]

45. Lol!

I walked right into that one....

I am really interested to see what NASA has to say today...

[forgotmylogin]

46. So THAT'S where those missing children removed from their parents at the border are being housed!

Sorry...sorry. Yes, I know. Bad. I'll be over here in the corner slapping myself repeatedly.

[keithbvadu2]

54. Dotard/Sessons are really hiding those children they took from the parents.

[brooklynite]

44. 2 PM Eastern. Details here:

NASA to Host Live Discussion on New Mars Science Results
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover
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.

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 at [email protected] 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:

https://www.nasa.gov/msl

[Judi Lynn]

48. Exactly what the doctor ordered. Thank you, so much, brooklynite. n/t

[ret5hd]

52. My guess:

[Baclava]

53. Nevermind, just a dry boring organic chemistry lesson about methane.

A jumble of stuff to say they found organic chemicals and methane, the source of which they don't know.

Oh, and something about ancient mud....ha ha

[scipan]

55. NASA Finds Ancient Organic Material, Mysterious Methane on Mars

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 3-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.

....

"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.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7154

[Judi Lynn]

56. Curiosity Rover Finds Ancient 'Building Blocks for Life' on Mars

By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | June 7, 2018 02:01pm ET

If you're holding out hope that Mars may have once been an inhabited world, two new studies should put a little spring in your step.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has identified a variety of organic molecules, the carbon-based building blocks of life as we know it, in 3.5-billion-year-old Red Planet rocks, one of the papers reports.

"These results do not give us any evidence of life," stressed study lead author Jennifer Eigenbrode, a scientist at the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. [The Search for Life on Mars: A Photo Timeline]

"But there is a possibility that [the organics] are from an ancient life source; we just don't know," Eigenbrode told Space.com. "And even if life was never around, they [the molecules] tell us there was at least something around for organisms to eat."

More:
https://www.space.com/40819-mars-methane-organics-curiosity-rover.html

[Judi Lynn]

57. NASA's Curiosity rover discovers that methane on Mars changes with the seasons

‘There’s been lots of excitement. Could this methane be produced biologically? Could it be produced by subsurface microbes?’
By Alessandra Potenza@ale_potenza Jun 7, 2018, 2:00pm EDT

NASA’s Curiosity rover has detected background levels of methane in the atmosphere of Mars, and these concentrations seem to go up in the summer and down in the winter, according to new research. Where the methane is coming from is still a mystery, but scientists have some ideas, including that microbes may be the source of the gas.

Researchers at NASA and other US universities analyzed five years’ worth of methane measurements Curiosity took at Gale Crater, where the rover landed in 2012. Curiosity detected background levels of methane of about 0.4 parts per billion, which is a tiny amount. (In comparison, Earth’s atmosphere has about 1,800 parts per billion of methane.) Those levels of methane, however, were found to range from 0.2 to about 0.7 parts per billion, with concentrations peaking near the end of the summer in the northern hemisphere, according to a study published today in Science. This seasonal cycle repeated through time and could come from an underground reservoir of methane, the study says. Whether that reservoir is a sign that there is or was life on Mars, however, is impossible to say for now.

Methane had been detected before on the Red Planet, but the measurements were all over the place. In 2003, for instance, telescopes from Earth mapped plumes of methane of about 45 parts per billion on Mars. Other measurements were taken by spacecraft orbiting the planet. And then in 2013 and 2014, Curiosity detected plumes of methane of 7 parts per billion. Today’s study is the first one to show that methane in the Martian air seems to follow a pattern: it has a seasonal cycle, and it’s not just random. That is key for finally understanding where this methane is coming from, and whether it’s a sign that there’s life on our neighboring planet.

“Most humans, as we crawled down from trees, have wondered about, ‘Are we alone? Are we the only life form?’” says Mike Mumma, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, who’s studied methane on Mars and was not part of today’s research. “If we can identify whether on Mars this methane has originated from life, that would be one way of answering that question.”

More:
https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/7/17434718/nasa-curiosity-rover-mars-methane-seasonal-cycle-microbes-life