NASA to Announce Mars Mystery Solved
- Thread starter 2hats
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That's because you have failed to see yourself as a lovely positive human being. I see you all in that way so enjoy and make the most of it PippinTook.
Baronage-Phase
Well-Known Member
krtek a houby
Anger is Hi-NRG
So, I was wondering, and apologies if this has been already covered... if the probes/drills do get to the water and find microbes or tiny organisms, will the life forms be very similar to those that exists on this planet? Being so close, I imagine they would be. But the further out into the universe, when stuff gets weird if there's life out there - that's probably where you'd get the truly "alien" lifeforms.
I'm relatively excited by all this. And the fate of our planet, too.
I'm relatively excited by all this. And the fate of our planet, too.
Baronage-Phase
Well-Known Member
They have known for a few years that there is lots of ice on Mars . The water they have detected with MARIS is well below a frozen subterranean lake. Bearing in mind that temperatures are -70, for it to be "liquid" which is what it appears to be, it is full of salts.
The article below explains it better. Here's a short quote...
"805 views |Jul 25, 2018,3:08 pm
Is There Liquid Water On Mars -- Or A Really Salty Slushy?
Brian KoberleinContributor
Radar images suggest the presence of sub-surface water.
Astronomers have discovered water on Mars. We’ve heard this statement lots of time before, often with the breathless claim that the discovery of Martian life might soon follow. So should this discovery raise our hopes for life on Mars? Maybe, maybe not.
We know that there are various salts on Mars (perchlorates), and if those salts were highly dissolved in layers of subsurface ice, it could produce a region of briny liquid water, or perhaps a slushy briny soup. So this might be liquid water, but it would have to be really salty. Far more salty than Earth’s oceans
So what about life? On Earth, microorganisms have been found in very salty waters, such as the Dead Sea. But this potential Martian lake differs in two ways. For one, it’s much more salty than the extreme lakes of Earth. For another, it’s extremely cold, with no clear source of heat. Even if there is liquid water there, it’s not a good opportunity for life.
But we’ve been surprised before. So if this region is confirmed to be a lake of liquid water it’s a powerful discovery and well worth exploring further.
1: R. Orosei, et al. “Radar evidence of subglacial liquid water on Mars” Science (2018) DOI: 10.1126/science.aar7268
Brian Koberlein is an astrophysicist, professor and author. You can find more of his writing at One Universe at a Time.
https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.for...d-water-on-mars-or-a-really-salty-slushy/amp/
So you've an extremely cold planet which also can have dust storms of up to 200km per hour.
Micro organisms that could live in brine, extreme cold and a non oxygenated environment would likely be very different to what is "life" on earth. But yeah...it is exciting. Very interesting and exciting.
Yossarian
⏭️
Yep - but that was almost 50 years ago, I think I'd almost rather see a Mars spacecraft hijacked and crashed into the White House than listen to the enormous amounts of shit President Trump would come out with if there was a successful NASA Mars landing.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
This is the single biggest question for exobiologists. Did life in the solar system (or even on a larger scale) start in one place and then get spread around? Or did it arise multiple times, independently?
It will be immediately obvious, as soon as any extraterrestrial life is discovered. The answer will have huge implications for the potential for finding life elsewhere in the universe.
Baronage-Phase
Well-Known Member
Was watching a programme last night (don't ask me the name...something about how the universe began) and they were saying that when all the planet's in our solar system were bashing into each other, Mars was the only one that didn't get whacked. Something about the gravity of Jupiter influencing Mars movement? Not sure how they know this... but the other thing theu said was that Mars could at that stage have had an atmosphere potentially similar to what developed later on earth...once earth stopped getting pummeled.
krtek a houby
Anger is Hi-NRG
We've been able to see Mars the last 2 nights in a row. Apparently it's the closest it's been to this planet in quite some time?
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
It gets "close" once every 2 & a bit years. This year's approach is the closest for 60,000 years, but the difference is small. Doesn't really affect its appearance in the sky.
EDIT: Actually it looks like the distance at closest approach varies a lot: 55 vs 100 milion km. DIdn't think Mars' orbit was so elliptical. Here's the spirograph of Mars' apparent position in the sky and distance as viewed from earth:
Big difference between '18 and '10
