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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May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!

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.

Many thanks John. All this is much more interesting isn't it!

Yea, The Mars Curiosity Rover mission is real science. Its fascinating to follow it.

John.

interesting if true??

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has discovered that Martian soil is an awfully lot like Hawaiian sand.

No methane on Mars.


Where's Mars' Methane? Curiosity Draws a Blank

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The universe wastes nothing, it's simply transferred.

No methane on Mars.


Where's Mars' Methane? Curiosity Draws a Blank

________________________________
The universe wastes nothing, it's simply transferred.

Oh well, looks like we may have to turn our attention then to fossil hunting.

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The Kite Fliers

--------------------
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.

Very early days, still, for Curiosity. As the article mentions, there are several explanations for the non-detection of methane which do not rule out current life there. Among these: seasonal variability of methane production, a proportion of methane below the current threshold of detection, chemical reactions on Mars that could very quickly destroy methane, and issues around the functioning of Curiosity's methane detecting instrument.

Just read where NASA will have a big announcement early in December regarding a discovery that Curiosity has made. They are holding off until the data has been verified.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

Speculation Centers on Organic Molecules. So they think??
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The universe wastes nothing, it's simply transferred.

OK, if Mars has it's own biosphere no matter how tenuous do we still send humans there? I know this isn't the United Federation of Planets and there is nothing written that would prevent us from going there but would the discovery of any form of life be good enough reason to stay away?

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.