The Curiosity On Mars Thread.

MeteoritesEire

a few iron meteorites have already been found on Mars, like this one

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/press/opportunity/20050119a/Sol339B_P2581_L456-B352R1_br.jpg

muskyj

Mountainsandh wrote: »

Of course it'd be a different story if Curiosity were to stumble on a spanner

all curiosity has to do to achieve that is to turn up at one of keith barry's gigs.

shedweller

Reddish rock powder from the first hole drilled into a Martian mountain by NASA's Curiosity rover has yielded the mission's first confirmation of a mineral mapped from orbit.

"This connects us with the mineral identifications from orbit, which can now help guide our investigations as we climb the slope and test hypotheses derived from the orbital mapping," said Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/nasas-curiosity-mars-rover-finds-mineral-match/

And here's APXS having an ould schniff!:pac:

shedweller

MAHLI took this yesterday. The wear on the cracked rock is interesting in that it cracked a long time ago to then have the crack widen from wear by windborne particles. It's old eh?!

Mountainsandh

I'm reading that Martian book way too fast, I've got to calm down, it's bitter sweet finding a page turner like that, and this one's short !:eek:
I got myself 2 other books with it, but I don't think they'll be as good.
I don't understand all the chemical or engineering references, but never mind, I glide happily over the hard stuff and take his word for it.

dvae

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Finding metal proves nothing

metals like iron can be found in meteorites

native metals can be found on earth with our hotter temperatures, and water and oxidising atmosphere

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_metal

True... finding metal proves nothing, unless its in the shape of a flying saucer

Capt'n Midnight

dvae wrote: »

True... finding metal proves nothing, unless its in the shape of a flying saucer

the original "flying saucer" reference was to the way they moved rather than their shape

let's not forget that Mimas looks like the death star.

shedweller

http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/second-time-through-mars-rover-examines-chosen-rocks/

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has completed a reconnaissance "walkabout" of the first outcrop it reached at the base of the mission's destination mountain and has begun a second pass examining selected rocks in the outcrop in more detail.

Exposed layers on the lower portion of Mount Sharp are expected to hold evidence about dramatic changes in the environmental evolution of Mars. That was a major reason NASA chose this area of Mars for this mission. The lowermost of these slices of time ascending the mountain includes a pale outcrop called "Pahrump Hills." It bears layers of diverse textures that the mission has been studying since Curiosity acquired a drilled sample from the outcrop in September.

Gnarly rocks!

HAZCAM view

Mountainsandh

I missed the press conference yesterday. Very exciting ! Next thing they'll find a fossilized crawfish.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4398

shedweller

Mountainsandh wrote: »

I missed the press conference yesterday. Very exciting ! Next thing they'll find a fossilized crawfish.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4398

Very cool. I'd love if the rover had the ability to split some of those rocks and look for fossils!!

RebelButtMunch

shedweller wrote: »

Very cool. I'd love if the rover had the ability to split some of those rocks and look for fossils!!

That would be amazing. Perhaps better brains than mine would guess at how deep they would have to go to find fossils. For instance if its been lifeless for x million years, how thick would be the fossil-less sedimentary rock.

Capt'n Midnight

shedweller wrote: »

Very cool. I'd love if the rover had the ability to split some of those rocks and look for fossils!!

a/ the fossils would only be microbes since Mars dried up before even our warmer climate developed multicellular life.

or

b/ lower gravity and the square cube law would mean that the sauropods would have been awesome and fossils would probably been detectable from orbit

Capt'n Midnight

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

That would be amazing. Perhaps better brains than mine would guess at how deep they would have to go to find fossils. For instance if its been lifeless for x million years, how thick would be the fossil-less sedimentary rock.

erosion would mean they would be visible on the surface just like in the deserts of the |US , China , Mongolia

Mountainsandh

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

a/ the fossils would only be microbes since Mars dried up before even our warmer climate developed multicellular life.

or

b/ lower gravity and the square cube law would mean that the sauropods would have been awesome and fossils would probably been detectable from orbit

That's the thing though, they seem to be rethinking the Martian timeline, obviously it's not clear to what extent.

Reati

bogwalrus wrote: »

I know this is probably not the place to put this but Keith Barry has predicted NASA will find a metal on mars proving life outside earth exists.

Now the way these things usually work is Keith Barry will do a load of research and have insider info be it from someone in NASA or government.

This is a very serious development. We should actually abandon all probe and rover development and direct funds to exploring the predictions KB makes. I hear he got a vision of an alien base on the moon and that's why NASA didn't go back with Apollo, even though they faked it in a hanger in the desert. The moon transformers dark side of the moon was a plant to get us plebs used to the idea.

shedweller

More vertical panoramas!

And some sedimentary goodness from the front hazcam! The cracks at the front centre of the pic have more of that white deposit too.

Rear hazcam view showing just how much bare rock has been driven over. The wheels will start to have accelerated wear from now on i expect. We will also see a definite rise in perspective too as the rover climbs up from the crater floor.

RebelButtMunch

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

erosion would mean they would be visible on the surface just like in the deserts of the |US , China , Mongolia

Dead right.

maninasia

thecommander wrote: »

With stronger tires!

I don't get this sample return part, it's going to have a container for rocks for another mission to collect them from. Hardly groundbreaking when you consider the place is full of rocks.

Why they didn't choose an instrument to check for current life baffles me.

Baffles me too, as there are many portable technologies that can be used to check for biochemical signatures. I can only assume that the geologists are in charge at NASA. The next rover should have instruments to detect living life. The current Rover's drill cannot reach down into the soil enough to reach beyond the area affected by cosmic radiation. Something as simple as a color change pattern could indicate microbial action. Again, a bit baffling although trade-offs are made all the time.

Let's change these ballast weights into shaped probes on the next landing system that will impact deep into the ground and have a PCR machine/sequencing system/mass spectrometer attached...and get crunching microbes .

Mountainsandh

Is it for fear of a repeat of Dr. Gilbert Levin's claims that life has already been found on Mars ?
If they disagree with his way of thinking, then they probably think it wiser to avoid that situation this time.


I highly recommend that video, he seems reasonable, plausible, and not a nutcase, he was lead team member Viking LR 1976, and according to him Curiosity does already have 2 ways to detect life on Mars (end of vid).
http://youtu.be/Y4IIQPwxmwY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4IIQPwxmwY

edit : I've notion I may already have posted this link, apologies if it's a repeat.

Capt'n Midnight

maninasia wrote: »

The next rover should have instruments to detect living life. The current Rover's drill cannot reach down into the soil enough to reach beyond the area affected by cosmic radiation. Something as simple as a color change pattern could indicate microbial action. Again, a bit baffling although trade-offs are made all the time.

The red soil of tropical regions is based on iron content and temperature. Think Oz and parts of Africa.

How would you detect microbial action ??
Big problem ask Carl Sagan. Viking was looking for metabolites back in the 1970's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_1

Mountainsandh

The man in the above describes how they searched for life CM, the actual experiments, and if I understand right, it paradoxically involved killing it (as part of a process) by heating up a sample and checking for reaction or lack thereof afterwards.

I promise he's not extrapolating for 24 minutes, he does describe the experiments and how they went.

Edit : oh no it doesn't actually, it just involves adding nutrients to a sample, heating up, and checking for gazeous reaction. The control sample involves possibly killing microbial life.

maninasia

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

The red soil of tropical regions is based on iron content and temperature. Think Oz and parts of Africa.

How would you detect microbial action ??
Big problem ask Carl Sagan. Viking was looking for metabolites back in the 1970's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_1

The scientists didn't know there was so much perchlorate in the soil at the time. Now we have a better handle on things, we are ready to go and actively search for life.
Besides, it's a process of experimentation that can be attacked from multiple angles. Gas sensors, mass spectrometers, DNA sequencers, we do the experiments and we start getting answers. Modern mass spectrometers are extremely powerful. Don't be afraid NASA. If you get something thats a possible life signal, repeat the test and do different tests to support the hypothesis.

Cork boy 55

Rover detected a 10x spike of methane in Mars atmosphere

irishgeo

Cork boy 55 wrote: »

Rover detected a 10x spike of methane in Mars atmosphere

Dont the caves in Mars have methane levels leading to the conclusion "life" might be living in the caves. Sure Brian cox said that.

Zubeneschamali

irishgeo wrote: »

Dont the caves in Mars have methane levels leading to the conclusion "life" might be living in the caves.

Not life - undead Zombies. Never go in a cave on Mars.

JupiterKid

The detection of methane on Mars by Curiosity is a very significant finding. This methane might - just might - be of a biological origin.

Dr Gil Levin is convinced to this day that his experiment on Viking back in 1976 did detect life on Mars.

Mountainsandh

It seems like a wise and very cautious public reveal exercise.
But i've already seen "ETs on Mars!" Type headlines regardless :rolleyes:

Capt'n Midnight

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Not life - undead Zombies. Never go in a cave on Mars.

Also this very bad video game adaption http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419706/

Anyway if they can get more methane they might be able to measure the isotope ratios and see if it hints at life.

For me it's interesting that methane is present given how oxidised the soil is, but there are lots of non-organic processes to produce and store methane over geological time.

maninasia

The Mars orbiter has already sniffed plumes of methane, anyway it opens up interesting possibilities to explore further.

shedweller

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Also this very bad video game adaption http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419706/

Anyway if they can get more methane they might be able to measure the isotope ratios and see if it hints at life.

For me it's interesting that methane is present given how oxidised the soil is, but there are lots of non-organic processes to produce and store methane over geological time.

Thats a fair point alright. It might be simply a complex chemical reaction. But the kid in me is rooting for some hatchet bacteria living away a few cm underground. Sample return missions would come with a whole new set of problems!
Oh, and i've finished "The Martian" as recommended earlier in this thread. It took me a while to get with the character, what with his very un-astronaut way of talking but i learned to let it slide and let my imagination take me there and boy was it worth it! Genuine goosebumps near the end!
Wow what a rollercoaster ride!

But now i've no books to read and Alastair Reynolds is still writing his next book....