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Subscribe to RSSAccording to NASA, powder from a rock found on Mars indicates the Red Planet may have been able to support microbes billions of years ago. NBC's Katie Wall reports.
Powder drilled out of a rock on Mars contains the best evidence yet that the Red Planet could have supported living microbes billions of years ago, the team behind NASA's Curiosity rover said Tuesday.
"I think this is probably the only definitively habitable environment that we have described and recorded," said David Blake, a scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center who is the principal investigator for Curiosity's CheMin lab.
The findings are in line with what the scientists hoped to find when they sent the 1-ton, six-wheeled laboratory to Mars' Gale Crater. "It wasn't serendipity that got us here. It was the result of planning," Caltech's John Grotzinger, the $2.5 billion mission's project scientist, told reporters at NASA Headquarters in Washington on Tuesday.
Serendipity did, however, play a part in being able to find the evidence so soon, he said. Curiosity's handlers had planned to have the rover head for a 3-mile-high (5-kilometer-high) mountain in the middle of the crater. But when the rover landed, the science team decided to send Curiosity on a detour to a geologically interesting area in the opposite direction, nicknamed Yellowknife Bay. Preliminary readings showed that the area had been a riverbed or lake bed in ancient times.
Last month, the rover finally got a chance to drill into a Martian rock that was named John Klein, after a member of the mission team who died in 2011. Curiosity fed tablespoons of the ground-up gray powder into its two onboard chemical labs: CheMin (Chemistry and Mineralogy) and SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars). The results were announced at Tuesday's news briefing.
Scientists said the powder contained the elemental ingredients of life — including sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon. More significantly, they found that clay minerals made up at least 20 percent of the sample. On Earth, these clays are produced when relatively fresh water reacts with igneous minerals such as olivine. The scientists also found calcium sulfate, which suggested that the water had a neutral or mildly alkaline balance.
Earlier NASA missions had found evidence that salty, acidic water was once present on Mars, but that extreme environment would have been challenging for today's Earth-type organisms. Curiosity's chemical analysis produced a different result: The water that was available during the formation of the rock at Yellowknife Bay, billions of years ago, could have supported the kind of life commonly found on Earth.
"We have found a habitable environment which is so benign and supportive of life that probably if this water was around, and you had been on the planet, you would have been able to drink it," Grotzinger said.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / Ames
A side-by-side comparison shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of two samples collected by Curiosity. The left side shows data from a sample collected from a drift of windblown dust, and the right side shows data from the powder drilled out of the John Klein rock. The John Klein readings show an abundance of phyllosilicate, a class of clay minerals called smectites that form by the action of relatively pure and neutral pH water on minerals.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell / MSSS
The left image shows Wopmay rock in Endurance Crater, as studied by NASA's Opportunity rover. The right image shows Sheepbed in Yellowknife Bay, as studied by Curiosity. Scientists say both rocks were formed in the presence of water, but the water at Wopnay was highly acidic and salty, while the water at Sheepbed had a more neutral pH and lower salinity.
The scientists said they were surprised to find a mixture of oxidized and non-oxidized chemicals, allowing for the type of chemistry that earthly microbes use to generate the energy they need for survival. This partial oxidation was first hinted at when the drill cuttings were revealed to be gray rather than red.
"The range of chemical ingredients we have identified in the sample is impressive, and it suggests pairings such as sulfates and sulfides that indicate a possible chemical energy source for microorganisms," SAM principal investigator Paul Mahaffy said in a NASA news release.
NASA said another drilled sample would be used to help confirm the chemical findings for several of the trace gases that were analyzed by the SAM instrument.
The current plan calls for Curiosity to conduct experiments in the Yellowknife Bay for weeks or months longer, and then begin a roughly 6-mile (10-kilometer) drive to the big mountain, known as Mount Sharp or Aeolis Mons. Scientists will look for further evidence of ancient organic chemistry hidden in the mountain's many layers of rock.
The primary aim of Curiosity's two-year primary mission is to find evidence of past habitability — in particular, organic carbon compounds that could have played a role in the chemistry of life billions of years ago. Grotzinger said Curiosity's scientists will focus on the systematic search for organic carbon now that they had "the issue of habitability in the bag."
NASA intends to follow up on Curiosity's findings with future Mars missions, including the $500 million MAVEN orbiter (due for launch this year), the $425 million InSight drill-equipped lander (set for 2016 launch) and another Curiosity-like rover that's scheduled to be sent out in 2020.
Trace the Curiosity rover's journey to Mars and see the pictures that the six-wheeled robot has sent back from the Red Planet.
More about Mars:
- Organics found, but are they from Mars?
- Radar reveals traces of huge Martian flood
- Cosmic Log archive on Mars
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
This story was originally published on Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:48 PM EDT
Leave a Comment:
I am in belief that MARS if they dig deep enough will find living organisims. This News of positive habitible areas and only touching the surface suggest to me far below are the MOTHER LOADS of living samples !!!!!!
I might buy a 30 pound mini rover. You lost me at a ton. I think not. This isn't a fish story so don't stretch it. So how much of this story true?
@Lyle Yes, Curiosity really weighs a ton (or rather, massed a ton). It is the heaviest rover ever delivered to the surface of Mars.
Wake me up when they have definite life in the universe ... geesh .. so much hype and absolutely zero proof ..
Sort of like the march of evolution .. the missing link race .. should be millions of the missing links somewhere but alas .. zilch ..
Not sayin I don't agree with the basic premise and the exploration is awesome but , cranky, give us proof ...
@Lyle, having seen the rover in person as it was being assembled at JPL, yes it is a ton. The thing is not a tiny little vacuum cleaner. It's the size of a vehicle.
It weighs a ton on Earth, on Mars it would weigh about 800 lbs!
Tell you what, I'll trade you 3 Homo habilis bubble gum cards for 2 of your God ones (in His MVP year when He won the Triple Crown.)
There are proven subsurface thermal eruptions occurring now, plus large caves and subsurface "wormholes" from old volcanic eruptions. There is no way on God's "red planet" that life could have been completely wiped out, on a bacterial basis, on the surface and subsurface. No way.
Sorta makes me wish they had sent some petri dishes with agar and had an incubator. Maybe now that the conditions are right they may get around to it.
Lyle - yes a ton. Like others said. Why is that hard to believe. Look it up.
Otherwise this is really cool. Only a matter of time now if not already found and being kept secert. I'm sure there are already some heads blowing up right now.
Keep it up NASA. Best investment ever.
It is time
RJM, Not sayin I don't agree with the basic premise and the exploration is awesome but , cranky, give us proof ...
RJM, it's "crikey" (as in Steve Irwin), not "cranky". As far as proof, Mars isn't mentioned in the Bible, so it doesn't exist, NASA is just scamming us for money, there's your proof.
Life-friendly conditions are one thing; life is another thing altogether. I'll get excited only if they find life (and not life exported from Earth, either); not life-friendly conditions. We've known for a long time already that Mars has life-friendly conditions.
Life-friendly conditions are one thing; life is another thing altogether. I'll get excited only if they find life; not life-friendly conditions.
=======================
What's that old saying? You have to learn to crawl before you can learn to walk.
Real science takes time. I too wish it were like Star Trek where they could establish an orbit about a planet in seconds, have a general analysis of everything in a minute or two, beam down and get the real skinny in a few more minutes, but reality is different.
Oh, there is abundant life on Earth and that's hypercool!
DarnThatDream,
"there is abundant life on Earth and that's hypercool!"
Pardon me for being so cynical, but I would say, "There is abundant life on Earth for the time being"! Until we succeed in exterminating it, that is.
They have to do this every once in a while to keep the hype up. That being said, it still amazes me how they get these rovers up there to do the things they do. I always enjoy looking at the pictures they send back. I'd love to see them launch a trip to Europa!
Jupiter has a number of intriguing moons
You gotta get all 3 God cards: The Father card, the Son card and the Holy Spirit card. I'm missing the Holy Spirit card, but I do have 3 Allah cards and 2 Jehovah cards.
One of these days, the Rover is gonna run into Marvin the Martian and get busted by that awesome Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator...
To you naysayers
This is a significant development of our knowledge. Is there life or was there life on Mars? It looks like it's possible, that's a big step from no way. I think it's news, but then I don't think it's news when some basketball team wins a game. It happens every day, why read about it?
Thats science at its best.. Its all about , Could be's , perhaps, its possible ..
I dont live life by speculation, show me the proof..
A few months back, NASA took the initiative to say that an important find would become news within the next few months time. And here it is. I'd been waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Thank you NASA.
Yes. There's much more to come, regarding the question of living organisms on Mars (or maybe underneath Mars). A Human exploration, that would allow for study of the lava caves and tubes, located throughout the Martian surface, could prove very worthwhile.
I believe that intelligent life in this Universe is very, very rare. Our species, if to survive, must colonize nearby planets and planets' satellites. Spreading life around is the best insurance of species survival. We just might be "it," in this corner of the galaxy, or even our larger galactic cluster.
The country is in a financial mess, and we pay over priced salaries, to a bunch of over educated geeks, who enjoy wasting my hard earned taxes, on space toys. One day the working man is going to take this country back, and NASA will be the first to go.
You do realize that most of the gadgets you use today are products of space exploration? Or are you just that ignorant?
I asked myself why haven't they moved onto their main objective yet:
"But when the rover landed, the science team decided to send Curiosity on a detour to a geologically interesting area in the opposite direction, nicknamed Yellowknife Bay. Preliminary readings showed that the area had been a riverbed or lake bed in ancient times."
I knew this, but I didn't think they would still be at Yellowknife Bay for this long. I thought they would have moved on and gotten there by now. However:
"The current plan calls for Curiosity to conduct experiments in the Yellowknife Bay for weeks or months longer, and then begin a roughly 6-mile (10-kilometer) drive to the big mountain, known as Mount Sharp or Aeolis Mons. Scientists will look for further evidence of ancient organic chemistry hidden in the mountain's many layers of rock."
So that explains why they haven't moved on to the mountain. They found Yellowknife Bay as an interesting area especially for life. And apparently the water records they are finding are interesting enough to keep them their for months.
So now we know. Now I don't have to wonder about what they might do on the mountain for weeks or months. Who am I kidding? It won't be for months. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way associated with this mission. I also understand the importance of this find, not only for past life, but also the viability of humans colonizing Mars long term. Yellowknife Bay does have an interesting geology as far as past water. So I can understand why they are interested in it, especially given their quest for life.
However, I personally am interested in Mount Sharp. And not just for their search for life, but other interesting finds like ancient glaciers, springs, and even valuable minerals. But who knows? Maybe they will get the best of both worlds in the end, and I just need to be patient. But I have to be honest, I have just been dying to hear what they find in the mountain. Oh well, guess I will just have to wait it out.
I agree with you, "starforces."
Unfortunately, politically active members of the radical, anti-science right-wing want to eliminate NASA, JPL, end support of the International Space Station Alpha, end all scientific exploration of space, the stars, other planets, etc., because these agencies and treaties of cooperation now exists under the Obama Administration, and in close cooperation with foreign countries, even with the Russians.
The radical right employ misleading narratives, straw man arguments, ad hoc logical fallacies, hyperbole, anti-taxation idealogical rhetoric, promote destructive deregulation, occasionally will cite scripture and state out-of-context quotations to hypocritically make their case against the American and International space programs, since they perceive and/or deny any direct benefits and see or personal monetary profits coming from it.
Here's one example out of many:
http://www.rightwingnews.com/government-waste/hows-switching-nasas-mission-from-exploring-space-to-muslim-outreach-going/
Proletariat of the world, unite!
This is so cool and anyone who doesn't think so has no imagination and sense of adventure. Probably mean, hateful and friendless, too.
RJM,
The fact that you made your post is proof of life in the Universe... Now if you're talking about intelligent life, that's a different story.
But seriously, we have only started looking and we haven't even scratched the surface as far as where to look. I have little doubt that we will eventually find it but it may be considerably different than what we are used to. If you look a the side variety of environments right here on our planet, that we have found life forms where we didn't expect to, and some pretty amazing living things at that.
We have found amazingly advanced life forms at the bottoms of the deepest oceans under ridiculous pressures in total darkness. We have life forms in both freezing and virtually boiling temperatures. Some bacteria exist in environments that would kill us almost instantly. Life forms have been found deep underground and have likely been living there for many millions of years completely unnoticed.
What we have discovered right here on earth is that what is the sweet spot for human live, get considerably broader when you include all known life forms. It is reasonable to assume that Mars was once closer tohuman life supporting conditions. That is not to suggest that human-like life existed, but it is almost likely that some forms similar to what is on our planet once existed. If so, the question then is if they had enough time to evolve and adapt to the changing conditions and found places on the planet to survive today.
These experiments to understand how the Mars environment changed may help to provide some clues. We know about the surface of Mars today and we are now pretty clear that it once had water and the right building blocks. Is it possible or even likely that in the right spots below the surface exist today to still support some evolved life form? To me this seems at least potentially possible if not probable.
Yes it is reasonable, but in the end it still is an assumption, meaning nothing until proven.
There will be worms.
They might be very small, but they will be worms and they will be there.
Tony
I have an Amaterazu rookie card I'd trade for one of your Allah cards.
There will be worms.
I don't get it. Why do we need to prove anything to you?
I'm responding to this:
TonyInDallas
You gotta get all 3 God cards: The Father card, the Son card and the Holy Spirit card. I'm missing the Holy Spirit card, but I do have 3 Allah cards and 2 Jehovah cards.
#1.17 - Tue Mar 12, 2013 5:42 PM EDT"
My response is that there are 3 God cards - Ra - Slifer - and Obelisk - YUGIOH!!!!!!!!!!
Oooooh, an Amaterasu. I need that, but you can't have ALL my Allah cards. How about a Mohamed minor league card? Or Ravana?
Skip.
Although I do think we will find something, I would be surprised if it has advanced much beyond stromatolites before things became too dry. Even that would be more advanced than seems possible at this point based on what we know. If it did go that far and we found the right spot, we could easily still see these in the fossil record. More likely would be evolution to maybe cyanobacteria. However, I think it is possible that some forms of bacterial life could still exist today on Mars, but the likelihood of anything beyond that still thriving would be very slim. We do know that bacertias can survive in some extremely harsh environments.
Although worms may not be thought of as such, they are considerably advanced life forms. They have probably only existed on earth for somewhere around 120-150 million years. Worms are predators and didn't appear on Earth until after there was an abundance of lower life forms to serve as prey.
Using Earth as an evolutionary model, for lack of any other, it seems pretty unlikely that ideal conditions existed on Mars for anywhere near long enough period to get that far. I think it would be very hopeful to have seen evolution reaching the stages where algaes and protozoa type life existed. Being able to recognize its existence long ago won't be easy. These life forms probably would have completely disappeared after liquid water was gone from the surface.
Although there is pretty solid evidence that liquid water did exist on Mars, there is little to suggest that it existed in abundance for a long enough time. The surface of Mars is generally very old and little effected on a widespread scale after the the late bombardment. Basically this says that the appearance hasn't changed much in 3 billion years or more. Although some debate exists about the late heavy bombardment, most agree that the significant activity of this nature ended about 3.8 billion years ago. What surface erosion occurred on Mars would have occurred primarily by wind and water. The fact that relatively little erosion has occurred suggests that what surface water did exist, it wasn't there for long from a geological time standpoint and it at least wasn't widespread for long.
From the standpoint of bombardment, the Earth, Mars and the Moon were pretty much subjected to the same activity. All three are thought to be about 4.5 billion years old, give or take a few tens of billions of years. If you compare the three surfaces, Mars looks much closer to the Moon than to Earth. We are certain that no geological erosion occurred on the Moon. (No wind or water). But there is some evidence of such erosion on Mars. We are certain that wind erosion still occurs on Mars today. Based on that simple comparison we can conclude that although it is likely that limited water existed on Mars for some time, it was likely only for a relatively short period. If a lot of water did exist, it didn't last long because its erosion effects would be more widespread and noticeable.
So if you buy into the above, the question is how long did that limited amount of water exist? That time period will be a limiting factor to significant evolutionary development. At least as we know it. Did limited surface water exist for a billion years on Mars? Pretty doubtful. A couple hundred million years or so? Maybe. But even if limited water existed for a billion years, it's only going to be long enough for early level evolution.
When we talk about finding life on Mars, I think a lot of people envision this being considerably more advanced life than the science community is looking for. As amazing as it would be to find worms, I sure wouldn't put any money on it. It would be pretty amazing to find evidence of something like algaes. That would suggest a presence of liquid water for a very, very long time. So if it were there fo that long, it would most likely have occurred in extremely isolated, unique areas. The odds of finding those locations would be very small. One reason future missions are considering equatorial regions is that these areas most likely would have held liquid water for the longest time periods.
Nothing to me, but when our society is being told things are facts when they are not , I have to step in. There are a lot of things assumed in science. I am a very critical person who wants facts and truths in life. I want people to be able to critically think about anything and be able to question.
While some folks think religion can be like a card game, I have always felt it was more like tiddly winks. That's why I am a Pastafarian.
Ramen!
What a great find so far !!!! KEEP THE ROBOTICS AND DRONES GOING STRONG. WE SHOULD SEND MORE OF THESE UP TO MARS. ESPECIALLY THE FLYING ONES !!!
You geek.
Yeah, if we send enough of them quick enough we might be able to confirm life once existed on Mars right before life is wiped out on Earth by an asteroid or comet.
Then again, maybe NASA should shift its focus...
Joe - how about we do both? Search for life and planet killers (ones from space that is, ie asteroids in this case).
It can be done, just have to give NASA the funding it needs; something they have to continue to beg and plead for and in reference to searching for more asteroids, have been doing and trying to get funding for. Glad to see though that people are finally waking up to that reality and that NASA might be a good thing afterall, never any doubt about that here.
NASA is the best investment this country has ever made and I hope sooner than later DC will get its head out of its you know what and give NASA what it needs and deserves funding wise. Don't worry plenty in the military budget that is wasted yearly that could fund NASA many times over. Thats just one source.
What they found are chemicals. NO fossilized ramains no NOTHING. You can put a cell in a saline solution snd poke a hole in it so the contents leak out and it will never put itself together. So much for all the ingredients being there.
I am getting tired of "mights," "coulds," and "possiblys." Fact is that so far they have found ZILCH to prove life existed on Mars.
CRWRE--
And that's the truth.....
Yeah, I think it might be a little early to start looking for fossilized bacterium. There is no evidence that life ever existed on Mars so far; that's kind of why we're out there. To find that evidence to form a conclusion.
The whole point of this mission is to determine if life COULD have existed on Mars at some time. If that doesn't interest you, why are you reading the story and commenting on it?
by some of the comments i wonder how much life on earth there really is.
There's life, not much intelligent life however.
I get the feeling that if Curiosity had a Caterpillar type shovel mounted on it, some sort of life would be found in that mound of martian soil.
When are you going to get so tired that you are going to stop telling us how tired you are?
Minor correction: "3-mile-high (5-mile-high)" I'm guessing is intended to be "(5 km high)".
Thanks, I had to scramble with this one. Got it fixed
Alan, I think you did an especially good job with this article. It answered a lot of things I had been wondering about the curiosity mission.
Water, fish fossils will be there. Until finding a cave deep enough underground all this is a waste of time and money. Nuff said.
Its a waste of time and money to explore, until we discover something that could only be found by exploring? I are confused by your logic.
Papa, you should move back to Europe or wherever, because "there is no land to the west"!
The whole thing is a waste of time and money when we have people on this planet that don't even have the basics.
Spending DEFICIT money to discover things that have no bearing on Earth is ridiculous.
Idaho - Love when your type show up to say how much of a waste NASA is. Get a clue. Google what NASA has given us then post. Yes I agree with doing a better job of taking care of our own but there are many other areas that are true wastes of resources with zero return on investment or that just get to much to start with. Start there then go for something like NASA that has given us more return than ever put in.
Google what NASA has given us then post
================
Tang!
Hate to tell ya, NASA didn't give us Tang. It was already there. But it was used by NASA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_(drink)
Scroll down to the drink mix origin listed in the "other" section of the link, not the Chinese dynasty.
and Velcro and .... and ...
See what you choose to see.
Would we have preferred NASA to spend its budget self promoting or investing it in real science?
They proved to us that we could reach the Moon and come home again.
That inspired an entire generation of yound people to challenge themselves with careers in science.
What is the calculated ROI on those missions.
I tire of short sighted uninspired souls whose only apparent purpose is to complain and wine.
Okay, so NASA discovered Tang and made it famous, so there, and lighthen up.
It's a waste until we find something you approve of, then it's OK. That's silly....nuff said!
Why didn't they land Curiosity by the ice pack? Looking for life, look around ice and water.....
As far as I am aware, there is no water ice on the surface of Mars. There is certainly no water in its liquid form. Its all relatively deep underground. The ice you see at the poles in images of the plant is dry ice, made of carbon dioxide.
Technically, Curiosity isn't looking for life. It's looking for geological conditions that support the hypothesis that it might once have existed. It could be rolling all over life right now for all we know!
Mars' north polar region does have a permanent cap of water ice that pops up every so often:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_northern_polar_regions_in_transition
Based on the tests conducted so far, it's highly unlikely that Curiosity is rolling right over microbes ... but if it could drill down a ways, it might be a different story.
And the Phoenix lander found water ice just a few centimetres below the surface, including a big patch underneath the lander!
Maybe they will find a Leprechaun and a pot of gold too!!
I wonder if they'll find Elvis.
Elvis didn't die, he just went home!
This proves Ray Walston wasn't lying that he was a Martian.
No, Elvis has just left the building, God knows where he went.
Maybe they'll find Hoffa and Earhart!
This little robot has done more discoveries and science than the ISS with all it's cost...amazing. Science in the ISS lately has concentrated in showing how to do potty up there and sightseeing!!! For the amoutn of money and effort that it cost just to figure out how man adapt to space environment was to much...what i am saying is it could of been done in a smaller space lab. I think we need to concentrate on deep space missions and asteroid hunting.
If we can't afford to have the ISS, how can we afford to have a permanent station of the Moon, let alone Mars, which takes a year just to get there.
As to Asteroid "hunting and busting" where are you going to test those ideas and theories? There's a big difference between Hollywood and practical reality. Case in point - Discovery Channel had a show on a couple of weeks ago about the world had 70 years to build an Ark to save 100,000 people and they were going to power it by setting off nuclear warheads and get the one mile by 15 mile craft up to 1/4 speed of light
Ok in theory it could work. But what "Hollywood" didn't discuss is that when craft approaches the "new world" is how are you going to stop it??? Since there is no friction in space.
Project Orion! example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRp3S8OOeZc
"Ok in theory it could work. But what "Hollywood" didn't discuss is that when craft approaches the "new world" is how are you going to stop it??? Since there is no friction in space."
Erm-ah! Turn it around and retro-fire them? Hollywood? -joe
I guess you didn't watch the show.... their propulsion system was using nuclear warheads, setting one off after another - until them reached 1/4 the speed of light. So your idea of just "turning it around and retro fire them" won't work because you would be flying into the nuclear radiation until you slowed down enough to obtain orbit.
forward facing thrusters, weak ones. who cares if it takes forever to to stop, or to arrive for that matter, whats the rush in establishing an immobile colony? assumbably the ship will be self-sufficient right? To me a mobile society seems to be the key, one that can travel towards resources or away from threats at will. Building the starships themselves is more important than any (temporary) planetary residence
NASA=Never A Straight Answer
Science is about gathering information. It's not like turning on a light. This is an investigation.
More like, a steady stream of facts leading to an answer. You want "never a straight answer" AND a completely lack of facts, try talking to the religious ilk of the world.
Just curious... once scientist have proven Mars once supported life, what are the possible practical applications from that discovery? Any guesses as to what finding ancient organic carbon compounds will tell us? After spending 2.5 billion dollars, I would hope they either find God or come up with a product better than dried ice cream and Tang.
DirectorBTS Learnin' thangs, how does it work?
Director: You might disagree, but actually establishing that microorganisms once existed on another planet, and that complex, organic life not only exists elsewhere in the universe but in the same SOLAR SYSTEM, would be worth well, well more than $2.5 billion to find out.
As for practical applications? Finding life on another planet suggests that other planets may have complex, Earth-like biospheres that are habitable and may have their own ecosystems to support colonies or exploratory teams. That would drive a push into space the likes of which we've never seen before. It could be a turning point in mankind's history.
Yeah
Spend all that money on NFL quarterback salaries. That's practical!
@Director
Nobody gets to whine about NASA's pathetic budget while the Defense Dept. is a bloated waste of money.
During the race to the Moon they were actually allowed to have failures. Now they have to one-shot everything.
In one shot NASA shot an SUV to Mars and lowered it to the surface with a rocket-powered crane. We expect miracles from NASA and when they do the impossible you whine about how much it costs, which is a tiny fart compared to Defense.
Don't know about you, I would much rather fund the advancement of humanity instead of its destruction.
OK ignorant Director,
Here are 10 from NASA or directly developed for NASA that we use everyday.
Baby Formula
Radial Tires
Artificial Hearts
High Strength Fishing Nets
The JAWS of Life. Next time ya gotta be cut out of a car thank NASA
Video Stabilization
Biodegradable Lubricants
Improved Insulation for Cars and Homes
Handheld Infrared Cameras
Possible Solutions to Osteoporosis
As well as 50 more for ya and any other nitwit that cares to learn anything.
Health and Medicine
Robotics Offer Newfound Surgical Capabilities In-Line Filtration Improves Hygiene and Reduces Expense LED Device Illuminates New Path to Healing Polymer Coats Leads on Implantable Medical Device Lockable Knee Brace Speeds Rehabilitation Robotic Joints Support Horses and Humans Photorefraction Screens Millions for Vision Disorders Periodontal Probe Improves Exams, Alleviates Pain Magnetic Separator Enhances Treatment Possibilities
Transportation Lithium Battery Power Delivers Electric Vehicles to Market Advanced Control System Increases Helicopter Safety Aerodynamics Research Revolutionizes Truck Design Engineering Models Ease and Speed Prototyping Software Performs Complex Design Analysis
Public Safety
Space Suit Technologies Protect Deep-Sea Divers Fiber Optic Sensing Monitors Strain and Reduces Costs Polymer Fabric Protects Firefighters, Military, and Civilians Advanced X-Ray Sources Ensure Safe Environments
Consumer, Home and Recreation
Wireless Fluid-Level Measurement System Equips Boat Owners Mars Cameras Make Panoramic Photography a Snap Experiments Advance Gardening at Home and in Space Space Age Swimsuit Reduces Drag, Breaks Records Immersive Photography Renders 360° Views Historic Partnership Captures Our Imagination Outboard Motor Maximizes Power and Dependability Space Research Fortifies Nutrition Worldwide Aerogels Insulate Missions and Consumer Products
Environmental and Agricultural Resources Computer Model Locates Environmental Hazards Battery Technology Stores Clean Energy Robots Explore the Farthest Reaches of Earth and Space Portable Nanomesh Creates Safer Drinking Water Innovative Stemless Valve Eliminates Emissions Web-Based Mapping Puts the World at Your Fingertips
Computer Technology Program Assists Satellite Designers Water-Based Coating Simplifies Circuit Board Manufacturing Software Schedules Missions, Aids Project Management Software Analyzes Complex Systems in Real Time Wireless Sensor Network Handles Image Data Virtual Reality System Offers a Wide Perspective Software Simulates Sight: Flat Panel Mura Detection Inductive System Monitors Tasks Mars Mapping Technology Brings Main Street to Life Intelligent Memory Module Overcomes Harsh Environments Integrated Circuit Chip Improves Network Efficiency
Industrial Productivity Novel Process Revolutionizes Welding Industry Sensors Increase Productivity in Harsh Environments Portable Device Analyzes Rocks and Minerals NASA Design Strengthens Welds Polyimide Boosts High-Temperature Performance NASA Innovation Builds Better Nanotubes
NumRodthegullible =YEC! -joe
Damn! Sheldon's going to throw a hissy-fit. Those damn Planetary Geologists have gone and discovered something significant. The Higgs boson is SO yesterday.
Not really: ht tp://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23265-mystery-boson-earns-higgs-status-thanks-to-w-particle.html
Good Grief!! I can't even take a cheap shot at the Theoretical Physicists today! I had not heard that news. I stand corrected!! It certainly is a good thing to finally be able to stop calling it the "Higgs-like" boson. Thanks for the informative link.
Lol class my friend pure class
Waste of taxpayer money. What difference does it make if there was once life on Mars?
Yea sure, why don't we just bury our heads in the sand and stop exploring and discovering.. Go away.. Please..
It means that the basic elements for life is there and if you place a family over there with the appropiate protection from UV and tools they can survive and learn from that experience to apply here on Earth when we lose our UV protection!!!
Clearly, your ancestors' evolving lungs and moving out of the ocean was also a HUGE mistake. Back you go!
It may explain where we came from and whether humas were on this planet long before us.
The Big Bang Theory is on.
@ john reed davis
NASA makes up a whopping .5% of the budget. That's about 1/100th the amount of the DOD budget. NASA is also relying more on private funding in 2012/13 than ever before.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/NASA
As for "what difference"... well, you may not realize this, but discovering extraterrestrial life is kinda a big deal. As in, arguably, the biggest deal in the history of deals. If for NO other reason as to put an end to creationist's ridiculous stranglehold on scientific progress, it's worth the paltry sums of money we toss their way.
Waste of taxpayer money... yeah....
I was going to respond with facts and figures and theological arguments for why its so obviously not a waste of money, but its not worth it. You're well thought out response would undoubtedly be, "nuh uh, its still a waste".
So Jon-2730330, so in your opinion are we spending billions of dollars to disprove religion? I certainly hope not; that would be a huge waste of effort. Also religion does not put a stranglehold on the scientific process, I have read the bible and nowhere does it say that we cannot invent or investigate anything. The only barrier to scientific discovery is ourselves.
Facepalm @Panther-1374895
It would tells us where you came from at any rate .. That said I have to ask why people like you read articals such as this ? I mean you have no interest in science or space exploration, your comments are silly and you have no true input. Your type of people alwys say it's a waste of money but let me ask you this. In all of nature howmany disasters are men really able to control ? But with space exploration we have a chance to maybe save our world. sound dramatic ? In 1994 Shemarker Levy 9 paid Jupiter a visit if that had hit earth ... well you wouldn't have had to worry 'bout the bomb no more. A few weeks ago 1000 people where hurt i Russia do to an explosion caused by a chunck of rock from space. If things like that can be avoided by spending a few billion it's fine by me. rather see my tax money spent that way instead of new and better ways to kill. If you look at the budgets of N.A.S.A vs the mlitay NASA comes across as the poor step sister even at it's most extravagent. We need space exploration. Staying on this one planet is like keeping all your eggs in one basket, it's stupid and short sighted. I hope that the powers that be will finaly see the need for a N.E.O watch that has a few more peop-le in it then a 1st shift at a McDoalds. And that we need to get out there
any rate thanks for letting me rant
BBB
"Habital" is only a definition of the possibility of the existence of life as we know it. It represents very narrow minded thinking. Life can possibly exist in all kinds of conditions that we have never thought of or never believed possible.
Mars is within the habitable zone around our sun. It is just the lack of a thick atmosphere that prevents it from being a nice place to live.
I think you missed my point.
Lack of an atmosphere as well as a magnetic field to protect it from solar and cosmic radiation. The lack of a magnetosphere paved the way for it's atmosphere to be striped away.
That's true, but all of our scientific knowledge naturally suffers a bias toward those forms that we've personally experienced. There's very little we can do about that except keep exploring and learning.
Gil
Not so sure. You need complexity....therefore carbon based. If carbon based, then you see that most of the bond energies are around or less than 1 eV, therefore temperature near us. And then you probably need a medium like water, therefore we need to be near the triple point.
Your claim that life can exist in these other conditions is based on what? It is not science!
Ones imagination is based upon only what you know. You cannot conceive of something that you have not already perceived. Try creating a monster that does not have "parts" (arms or legs, etc.)of which you have no knowledge of existing. Try seeing a color that you have not already seen.
Like I said, it ain't science. You can always say what you just said, about anything, and is therefore not very interesting. If you want monsters, watch Dr. Who? That ain't science either, but it's fun!
By the way, you can perceive of something you've never seen. Einstein did it when he came up with special relativity and Heisenberg did it with matrix mechanics. With my palette at home, I can come up with a lot of colors I've never seen, most of them objectionable!
Everything you mention is derivative of something that you have already been aware of or perceived. Think ! Just and extrapolation.
Nope
Humans are capable of original thought and concepts. Once again I use Einstein. Let me add de Broglie. And then there's Picasso! I respectfully disagree
No, it's philosophy. Most of xenobiology is based on speculation.
If we figure how to live in Mars with all the UV radiation and no planet protection we will solve the biggest threat to humanity besides asteroids. When our magnetic field gets so weak there will be no protection against UV anymore and right now is very weak. Science has shown that every 100k years changes direction and in the process we have no protection for a couple of hunderd years. We are due for another flip and there has been signs of weak spots and exposed areas in the south pacific. What we do during that time where everything exposed dies is what we need to find out in a hurry!!! The answer is in Mars because if can figure it out and build settlemets over there then we can apply that knowledge over here.
Do you really believe that every 100,000 years everything on the surface of the earth dies and evolution has to start all over again? I am just a little bit curious about which hollywood movie you get your scientific facts from.
I'm on board with Gary, but Robert is sorta correct. The magnetic poles reverse and stir things up quite a bit. Part of college studies, unfortunately I don't recall what the outcome is beside North becoming South and vice versa.
Stang,
As the polarization of the magnetic core shifts it allows more Radiation and UV to enter our atmosphere and these are not healthy things for humans to experience.<Grin>
A stronger field is a better shield from the same.
We don't have to live on the surface. Martian dirt is only 1/3rd the weight of Earth dirt. A few 10's of meters worth of dirt will provide us all the protection we need from space weather and the like.
Of course, the same applies even more so to the moon. And moon dirt only weighs 1/6th as much as earth dirt.
plato mentioned that mars and earth were much closer at one time and travel between the two planets was the norm.Then one day a huge planet sized object came into our solar system and knocked mars into a more distant orbit killing all life on mars ...this object caused the earth to wobble sinking and raising continents{atlantis} about 10000 years ago..atlantis was very advanced and used crystals on flat pyramids to form magnetic grids for its vehicles to travel on...those crystals sank and to this day cause abnormal magnetic readings in that part of the world ..bermuda triangle..and there is more but too much space needed..
Plato had absolutely NO idea what he was talking about. Physics and gravitation do not work that way.
OOps, that wasn't even Plato. That was Immanuel Velikovsky. Plato said nothing of the kind.
Could you provide a citation for your "plato mentioned" statement, please? Something other than a quote from Velikovsky (thanks, CanDoMan..I thought that sounded familiar).
Someone's been watching too much of the crazy hair guy on Ancient Aliens
This will be proven to be true. Some Martians escaped to Earth.
Where's Paul when we need him?
everybody calm down. Dennis is yanking your chain...successfully, I might add. Hollywood needs you, Dennis!
Aww, he's cool. And consider this: their religion is much better thought out than any other fairytale story mankind has come up with. And they haven't gone on crusades or jihads or whatnot. At least, not yet.
Oh I agree. I would more readily subscribe to that vein of thought over religion easily.
"everybody calm down. Dennis is yanking your chain...successfully, I might add. "
-moderation above all
Swarming locusts descend on Israel published Tue Mar 12, 2013
Humm, successfully and often! -joe
Let me know if they find my car keys Please.
your ex-wife has them.
Waste of money. Yes all you geeks waste of money. Period.
@ rockymountain123
You're an idiot.
I guess computers, cell phones, medical science, and just about all other advancements made by humans are a waste of money too. But then here you are obviously using a computer, wasting money.
It didn't come from rocks on mars you @!$%#s. Go get laid. Wait you can't because your a nerd.
Geeks get laid in the best way possible. Marilyn Monroe, arguably one of the sexiest women to ever live, was married to a geek. Geeks are also arguably better in bed due to their knowledge with sex, Revenge of the Nerds played on this when one of the nerds won over the jock's girlfriend. I've been complimented on my skills in bed as well and it's funny hearing stories with my lady friends how shabby some men are in bed because they have no idea what they're doing or how to find certain areas of the female anatomy~
Another worshiper of the workers paradise North Korea.. Thinking is frowned upon and all things come from the Dear Leader so the 92.9% of the population who are told not to think for themselves are happy.. The rest are in prison camps being reeducated.. It is far better to pay people to lay around and do drugs while getting free stuff like Obama phones.. We waste money in the space program because all the political cockroaches are holding it back.. We could have had a space station that was in a figure 8 orbit between the Earth and Moon.. Had a Moon base that was mining and processing materials to build large space vehicles and already had boots on the Martian surface as well as some of the other planets moons.. But nope , war and welfare are at the top of the political list..
If the advancement of technology and of our civilization on Earth matters to you at all, then cutting edge technology, R&D, and exploration such as this is most definitely not a waste of money.
"Period."
Troll harder.
This is huge news. Up to this point, there was no finding or verification of Nitrogen on Mars. To a lot of Astrobiologists, that was the holy grail they were hoping to find.
Life, as we know it, is based on Carbon, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Phosphorus which make up the basic organic structures that life's building blocks on Earth are made up of.
That's not to say that other chemical combinations aren't possible, but there are so many convenient qualities that these elements have with regard to stability, binding with each other, and several other factor that make other combinations not nearly as stable or probable. If something works really well, it's a good hunch to look for what you know works.
Excellent points Mike. Nitrogen is 'huge', and what we see here is evidence of something potentially stunning. I really hope we have the chance to go to Mars and actually do some excavation within my lifetime.
Yes, with finding nitrates and nitrites in the rock along with sulfates and sulfides and a mildly basic PH for the water at the time, the chances of microbial life there increase tremendously. With all the necessary ingredients and a temperate environment and available energy sources, life (at least microbes) should have had a good opportunity to develop given enough time.
We've confirmed that there is at least one place other than Earth that had habitable conditions for life. That's a big step, and certainly increases the odds of finding places with current habitable conditions in places like Jupiter's moon Europa.
oh yeah and that object became the planet with a reverse spin after captured by the suns gravity....it is called the planet venus
Oh, you've confused Plato with early 20th-Century nutball Immanuel Velikovsky. Common mistake.
It was called Worlds in Collision, but a better name is Worlds in Confusion. Supposedly the new planet (Venus) passed by Earth at least twice and caused the devastation in Egypt in the time of Moses (floods, pestulence, parting of the Red Sea) and then on its second pass caused Manna from Heaven. Why? Because manna is bread which is a carbo-hydrate and Venus (and other 'comets') supposedly trail hydro-carbons and Earth passed through the tail. See? two very similar compound words. Must be the same! Therefore, hydro-carbons become carbo-hydrates. Oil into bread! Ain't science wonderful? And for my next trick, I'll turn the dust from buried bones into flesh-eating, mostly filled-out with skin, organs, and ligatures, zombies.
isn't that a song by Black Sabbath? no, wait, that's WHEELS of confusion...sorry, my bad. I wondered about zombies, though. glad you sorted that out.
Humanity has some low moments...and spending billions to drill rock on Mars is at the top, especially when people in this country of ours go on killing sprees regularly due to lack of medical attention they cannot afford.
Atleast you know what to call yourself ;-)
Ha... Ryan, that was classic. : )
You're right, idiotic. It IS truly a sad time when humanity is sending robots to alien worlds to explore and luddites suggest that the expense is the reason that people commit murder. It's like you've truly mastered ignorance, to denounce scientific discovery and make excuses for murderers in the same sentence. A low point indeed.
This 'amazing' discovery we have been waiting for is a huge letdown.....if NASA had found signs of life - that would be something. We waited several months for this???
Your level of expectation is stupid, is the actual problem.
Have you EVER read about this mission???? They have a LONG way to go! Who knows what they'll find next? But,, I doubt you care.
"This 'amazing' discovery we have been waiting for is a huge letdown.....if NASA had found signs of life - that would be something. We waited several months for this??? -garry kinney
Well Gee, Gar! I hope that YOU haven't spent ALL your computer time glued to the Science section instead of PORNXXX, ...pulling on your weasel! -joe
I might buy a 30 pound mini rover. You lost me at a ton. I think not. This isn't a fish story so don't stretch it.
So how much is this story true.
Wait, let me guess..... You don't believe that we landed on the Moon, do you?
If you can imagine the most difficult part of actually getting to Mars, then it's just a little father to accept the weight issue. The rover is approximately 2000 pounds. It is a little mobile lab to test samples of soil and rock.
Mark First off I have seen this rover up and close and in person and ones they where testing for the trip. We had no way of sending a one ton rover to mars. Let me know how much ground covers in a day. Now to answer your next question. No I do not believe that we where on the moon. Since no one has since been on the moon. I use to help to pick up space capsules that landed in the ocean. They where barely large enough to hold two people. We partnered up with the Russians to use their space station. Why we didn't we build bases on the moon? I'm sorry you can't think for yourself. Here is what I suggest you do is go to your closes Space Museum. Don't look at the pictures look at the space equipment and get back to me. There was a story on Fox I don't agree with everything, but the story was factual. With all that space junk out there you would think you could get some really close ups on the these so called landings. This was over forty years ago. Another suggestion take a look at what it took to make a movie that many years ago. 8mm cameras just hit the market. Have you ever seen a film from one of these cameras. I suggest that you do and get back to me. Next time you make a remark I would suggest you think.
jeepers lyle, where do i start? i like your little cap, but what's underneath it simply concerns me.
Now we know who to ignore!
Sebreb, I'll bet the little cap is lined with tin foil.
Dude, these were the capsules for re-entry. There were other modules, like the LEM. So, when did you pick up these capsules?
Tony, I think we may have just found a harder, denser material for nuclear reactor shielding. -joe
You may be on to something there, Joe.
what next ?? intelligent Life, not here, not there..........
Several million years ago,martians were working their space program toward an ideal planet for life,when they unfortunately used up the last of their resources and budget cuts stopped the project. THE REST OF THE STORY WILL NEVER BE TOLD!!!!
I think I'll just settle for an EGO TRIP to MARS! I miss Melina!
I'll be back...
Get your @$$ to Mars!
Two weeks..
Exciting news!
If you wrap a map of Mars around a ball, you will see that it was struck by something huge, so hard that it made a hole on one side and a mountain range on the opposite side of the planet. Just saying.