But, scientists expected to find a rock similar to the ones seen on previous missions to Mars. But instead, they found a rock with a composition seen in many rocks on Earth.

Well, that is not too surprising. The whole solar system is prone to meteor showers, and so similar rocks would probably be found on most planets and moons. In addition if the solar system and its planets were all made out of the same group of matter then there would be similarities.

I am actually heartened by this discovery as together with apparent evidence that water did once fow on mars, then their s more liklihood that forms of life as we know them may have existed.

But, scientists expected to find a rock similar to the ones seen on previous missions to Mars. But instead, they found a rock with a composition seen in many rocks on Earth.

Lynn,
the conclusion i draw from that is that Earth and Mars have similar rocks, which is not really surprising at all.

John.

I am actually heartened by this discovery as together with apparent evidence that water did once fow on mars, then their s more liklihood that forms of life as we know them may have existed.

Chris,
They didn't! There was never life on Mars, ever ever ever. Chris life as we know it is made from cells with DNA. Mars NEVER had an atmosphere that was thick enough to protect living things. The surface of Mars is lethal to the cells that make up living creatures. The radiation from the Sun that hits the surface of Mars will destroy all living things. And the gravity of Mars is not strong enough to have ever allowed liquid water to flow anywhere.

John.

Curiosity has shown what is very similar to a river bed, with pebbles rounded by streaming water. This is what NASA scientists say.
Tullio

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Curiosity has shown what is very similar to a river bed, with pebbles rounded by streaming water. This is what NASA scientists say.
Tullio

Yes Tullio,
I was swallowing that story myself for the last number of years. It does sound very plausible that liquid water might have flowed there in the past. And yes, the pictures from Mars clearly show what they call "Gullies". And they look just like water erosion here on Earth. So at first glance, it seems to make sense.

But!! The fact remains, Mars was never any bigger, so it never had a stronger gravity. Its gravity that is "pulling" our atmosphere to the surface. Its Earths gravity that gives water the property of flowing like a liquid on the surface of Earth.

But Mars is different, less gravity, its much colder because it further from the Sun. Therefore frozen water won't transition from the solid phase to the liquid, to the gas phase the same way as here on Earth. As soon as frozen water is heated on Mars by the Sun, it goes straight from solid to gas and evaporates off.

Look i'm not entirely sure that my science is exactly correct. Maybe i'm right, maybe i'm wrong. I keep an open mind.

John.

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I know that a radar on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, incidentally made in Italy, has found deposits of water ice under a gravel cover even at middle latitudes. So Mars once had water. It must have mostly evaporated, as you say, but maybe for a short period of time it was in liquid form.
Tullio

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I know that a radar on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, incidentally made in Italy, has found deposits of water ice under a gravel cover even at middle latitudes. So Mars once had water. It must have mostly evaporated, as you say, but maybe for a short period of time it was in liquid form.
Tullio

Yes, maybe its possible Tullio.

But this Rosie concept people have in their head of oceans of liquid water once flowing across Mars is wrong. Its just not that simple.

As i say, i keep an open mind.
John.

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Curiosity is a long range mission, thanks to its nuclear power. Did you see it has no solar panels?
Tullio

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Curiosity is a long range mission, thanks to its nuclear power. Did you see it has no solar panels?
Tullio

Yea, it can keep going for many decades. It has one of these -
Radioisotope thermoelectric generator;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator

Its the ultimate Duracell battery :)

John.

The big thing about the pebbles seen by Curiosity is that the rounded erosion on the pebbles suggests that water flowed for a long time...


Keep searchin',
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

The big thing about the pebbles seen by Curiosity is that the rounded erosion on the pebbles suggests that water flowed for a long time...


Keep searchin',
Martin

Hmmmmm..... i'm suspicious of that theory Martin.
Sand is very abrasive. Mars has lots of sand, and we have pictures of those mini dust devil type tornado's that blow around up there. I have seen the effects of sand blasting stone walls, builders use sand blasting machines, and it erodes away solid stone and leaves it with rounded edges. Any of the pictures i have seen from Mars could be accounted for by dust devil's sand blasting the stones.

Maybe water flowed there at some stage. But i think its unlikely.

John.

The big thing about the pebbles seen by Curiosity is that the rounded erosion on the pebbles suggests that water flowed for a long time...


Keep searchin',
Martin

Hmmmmm..... i'm suspicious of that theory Martin.
Sand is very abrasive. Mars has lots of sand, and we have pictures of those mini dust devil type tornado's that blow around up there. I have seen the effects of sand blasting stone walls, builders use sand blasting machines, and it erodes away solid stone and leaves it with rounded edges. Any of the pictures i have seen from Mars could be accounted for by dust devil's sand blasting the stones.

Maybe water flowed there at some stage. But i think its unlikely.

John.

too look at the face of wind blown sand erosion we only have to look at the sphinx. Softer stone is worn away quicker. You see a layer cake effect as well as sharp edges to the smaller stone. We dont see this in the current photos from mars.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

Heck with them round thangs. What's up with them Shiny things?

They say the shiny things are Martian, not debris from explorations.

There's Gold in them thar craters.

The DEMON...ella

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Yes, the tiny, shiny objects found at the bottom of a trench dug out by Curiosity's sample scooper are stirring up interest. They're apparently not fragments from the rover, as was the case with a shiny piece of plastic found a couple of weeks ago. They plan to use the X-ray diffraction instrument to learn what the the mysterious objects are made of. In the photo with the article linked below, the fragment pictured looks a bit like a tiny gold nugget to me. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/10/um-whats-that-bright-shiny-thing-curiosity-just-found-on-mars/263874

If that's soil all around that shiny object, then this soil gives the
impression that it's bonded together by moisture?

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The Kite Fliers

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Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

Titan has methane, why not Mars?


Mars rover working on new clues in methane mystery

I believe you'll find that methane is rare on relatively warm planets near the Sun. Methane is typically a gas on Earth and Mars, and easily destroyed by relatively strong ultraviolet rays from the Sun. At the distance of Saturn and Titan, it is commonly a liquid or solid, more stable forms, and is subject to only a small fraction of the ultraviolet light found at Earth.
As the lighter isotopes of methane are produced by living things, their predominance in Mars' atmosphere would indicate the current presence of life there. If found only sequestered in solid media, they would point to life only in the past.

Is it possible the shiny piece is a part of USSR's MARS 2 Lander or USSR's MARS 6 soft lander that was lost in the '70's during landing? I dont believe either of these have been located.

Mars 2 crashed at approximately 45 degrees South latitude, 30 degrees West longitude. Mars 6 crashed at about 23.9 degrees South, 19.4 West. Curiosity landed at 137.4 degrees East, 4.5 degrees South. The shiny objects (there are at least several of them) do not seem to be from either of the Russian landers. Its been pretty well established that whatever the objects are, they are native to Mars. They were found at the bottom of a trench dug by Curiosity, in what appeared to be previously undisturbed soil.

NASA JPL News.

Curiosity Rover Report (Oct. 26, 2012): Working with Curiosity's ChemCam Laser
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDgv14Qtl1c

Curiosity uses its ChemCam laser to explore a tiny cluster of rocks nicknamed "Stonehenge."

John.