http://www.iflscience.com/space/nasa-announce-major-discovery-regarding-mars-monday
QuoteNASA is preparing to reveal a “major science finding†regarding Mars on Monday, with the agency planning a special news conference to announce the findings.
The event will take place at 11.30 a.m. EDT (4.30 p.m. BST) on Monday, and you will be able to watch it live on NASA TV, which we have handily embedded below. Reporters will be onsite and asking questions by phone, while the public can get involved via #AskNASA.
What will the announcement be about? Well, you’ll have to wait and see, as NASA won’t be releasing any more information to the public until then.
Taking part in the news conference will be Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters; Michael Meyer, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters; graduate student Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta; Mary Beth Wilhelm of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California and the Georgia Institute of Technology; and Alfred McEwen, principal investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Such events for NASA are not unprecedented, but they do usually herald a major discovery. In July, NASA convened a similar conference to announce the discovery of Kepler-452b, the most Earth-like planet found outside the Solar System to date. While this latest event won’t be announcing life on Mars, its implications could be vital in understanding more about the Red Planet.
So tune in on Monday for a groundbreaking discovery about a world that we think was once rather similar to our own.
OK it will probably be lame and everyone will be hugely disappointed, since it isn't (apparently) about life. Something something footprints maybe? Stay tuned, all you little science minions.
And you will blame me, you will. Even though I am only the messenger.
:naughty:
My guess: H2O, lots of it.
That was my first thought. Unless they've got a vein of gold or something.
Quote from: stromboli on September 25, 2015, 10:41:50 PM
That was my first thought. Unless they've got a vein of gold or something.
Naw, they would keep that a secret. You know the old saying, Silence is gold...
Update
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/theres-growing-speculation-nasa-is-about-to-announce-it-discovered-flowing-water-on-mars-2015-9
QuoteNASA today made a very brief announcement that it’s preparing to share details of a “major science finding†early next week.
The space agency gave out a list of participants who will speak, and notice of a “brief question-and-answer sessionâ€, so there’s not a lot to go on.
But a couple of names on the list have journalists and bloggers speculating that NASA is about announce it has found evidence of water on Mars. Possibly even flowing water.
Lujendra Ojha is a grad student and PhD candidate in planetary science at Georgia Tech.
But it was as an undergrad at the University of Arizona where Ohja made a lot of headlines in 2011. At 21, the science fiction fan and Nepal native co-authored a study that suggested liquid water flowed during the warmer months on Mars.
“It was a lucky accident,†he told CNN at the time. Ohja had noticed irregular features in images taken for another study of gullies in Mars craters by UA researcher Colin Dundas.
As the images had been taken over time, they varied due to a range of distortions, such as shadows. Ohja one day decided to start removing the distortions using a computer algorithm, just to see if any changes could be noticed over time.
“When I first saw them, I had no idea what it was,†he told CNN. “I just thought it was a streak made by dust or something similar.â€
Where the water was coming from was still up for debate. As Ohja said at the time:
“There’s going to be years of research put into this to even prove that this is definitely a proof of water.â€
And obviously, where there’s water, there’s always the prospect of life.
On Tuesday, September 29, at 1pm (AEST), we may find out.
Whatever they've found, they're going to have to science the shit out of it.
Tupac?
The rover found a sign, showing that Elon Musk already purchased all rights to that planet ;-)
Quote from: Baruch on September 26, 2015, 10:50:35 PM
The rover found a sign, showing that Elon Musk already purchased all rights to that planet ;-)
I still respect the guy, but seems there's some hot air in his ebullience.
It's aliens.
Probably a McDonalds. They seem to be everywhere else... :sad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFvNhsWMU0c
I gather we are not all waiting with bated breath......
Quote from: stromboli on September 27, 2015, 08:34:40 AM
I gather we are not all waiting with bated breath......
Oh, I'll be fascinated by whatever they announce. I want to know what
is and
was really there; I don't have a pet theory I want to see proven. Well, I do, but the rovers are in the wrong place to test it. I figure it's going to be about where the water went.
It would be epic to have them announce finding something like a stromatolite, but I'm not counting on it.
I'm curious, but they tend to not understand what they consider a major announcement, is not really considered major by the regular everyday person.
I think most people would think major would be life, or the remnants of life. I'm guessing they found liquid water.
Water.
Quote from: josephpalazzo on September 25, 2015, 10:37:36 PM
My guess: H2O, lots of it.
http://www.thestar.com/life/2015/09/28/mars-mystery-nasa-set-to-reveal-major-science-finding.html
I won.
Quote from: josephpalazzo on September 28, 2015, 12:03:20 PM
http://www.thestar.com/life/2015/09/28/mars-mystery-nasa-set-to-reveal-major-science-finding.html
I won.
Good for you. :bravo_2:
Quote from: josephpalazzo on September 28, 2015, 12:03:20 PM
QuoteMy guess: H2O, lots of it.
http://www.thestar.com/life/2015/09/28/mars-mystery-nasa-set-to-reveal-major-science-finding.html
I won.
That's not
exactly true. :)
QuoteThe new images don’t actually show flowing water, which doesn’t last long on the Martian surface. It evaporates quickly, and the thin atmosphere wicks it up and away.
But it is nonetheless extremely exciting. :)
Party pooper... ;-)
Moment of glory shot to hell.....
Contemporary liquid water was better than I'd expected; I'd thought they were going to confirm the buried frozen ocean hypothesized in the northern hemisphere.
The implications for the existence of Martian life -- past and present -- are profound. The existence of these flows certainly suggests there's permafrost beneath the surface, and permafrost is a perfectly acceptable habitat. Probably the most likely, since underground it's protected from UV and cosmic rays and other electromagnetic interlopers and high speed particles.
All the more reason to go and find out. Just one bacterium that operates on a genetic code that isn't DNA broadens our horizons beyond measure.
Quote from: trdsf on September 28, 2015, 01:25:55 PM
Contemporary liquid water was better than I'd expected; I'd thought they were going to confirm the buried frozen ocean hypothesized in the northern hemisphere.
The implications for the existence of Martian life -- past and present -- are profound. The existence of these flows certainly suggests there's permafrost beneath the surface, and permafrost is a perfectly acceptable habitat. Probably the most likely, since underground it's protected from UV and cosmic rays and other electromagnetic interlopers and high speed particles.
All the more reason to go and find out. Just one bacterium that operates on a genetic code that isn't DNA broadens our horizons beyond measure.
Article I read and was looking for said that the elements of life- water being one- were probably there at some point. The chemical ingredients, an activation source like lightning or vulcanism or whatever. But the estimated window of opportunity was small- on the order of hundreds of thousands of years rather than millions.
New photos reveal hostility ..
(https://findingmontauk.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/marvin_skirt.jpg?w=700)
I heard they we're going to announce that they found God on Mars... actually, it was the God Mars... but, the scientist conspiracy made them change it to water at the last moment before the press release.
(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff277/josephpalazzo/Humans-Living-On-Mars1.jpg) (http://s243.photobucket.com/user/josephpalazzo/media/Humans-Living-On-Mars1.jpg.html)
This guy.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/My_Favorite_Martian_Ray_Walston_1963.JPG)
Also Jerry Lewis in Visit To A Small Planet and Robin Williams as Mork. You and I can be dated like tree rings ;-)
Quote from: stromboli on September 28, 2015, 01:45:07 PM
Article I read and was looking for said that the elements of life- water being one- were probably there at some point. The chemical ingredients, an activation source like lightning or vulcanism or whatever. But the estimated window of opportunity was small- on the order of hundreds of thousands of years rather than millions.
S'what I get for skimming it on my lunch break rather than reading it completely at my leisure; even so, the presence of water means that there has been a continuing opportunity for something to arise in the last few billion years. The collapse of a warm, wet ecosystem there significantly reduces the chances, of course, but it doesn't obliterate them.
I still think when we get where the water is (the polar caps and/or the northern frozen ocean, if it's actually there), there's a good chance we'll find something eking out a bare living. Nothing complicated... but it doesn't need to be.
Quote from: trdsf on September 29, 2015, 11:32:23 AM
S'what I get for skimming it on my lunch break rather than reading it completely at my leisure; even so, the presence of water means that there has been a continuing opportunity for something to arise in the last few billion years. The collapse of a warm, wet ecosystem there significantly reduces the chances, of course, but it doesn't obliterate them.
I still think when we get where the water is (the polar caps and/or the northern frozen ocean, if it's actually there), there's a good chance we'll find something eking out a bare living. Nothing complicated... but it doesn't need to be.
I think what we are talking about is the window of opportunity. Given that earth is larger, able to retain an atmosphere, has the right gravity, abundant water and all the right chemicals, what is left is the span of time open for the right set of events to happen to create life. In the case of Mars, not able to retain an atmosphere, there was a much shorter window for that to occur. We obviously still don't know and it may well be that the needed window is much smaller than we thought. We might yet discover evidence that life did occur and then perish, or that life in some form still exists. Time will tell.
Quote from: stromboli on September 29, 2015, 01:38:13 PM
I think what we are talking about is the window of opportunity. Given that earth is larger, able to retain an atmosphere, has the right gravity, abundant water and all the right chemicals, what is left is the span of time open for the right set of events to happen to create life. In the case of Mars, not able to retain an atmosphere, there was a much shorter window for that to occur. We obviously still don't know and it may well be that the needed window is much smaller than we thought. We might yet discover evidence that life did occur and then perish, or that life in some form still exists. Time will tell.
Yup. If we get to the poles and the frozen ocean (if it's real), and don't find anything, I'll concede that Mars is currently lifeless.
Of course, that means we have to bloody well
go. (glares at NASA detractors in Congress who bitch about the stingy 1/2 of 1% they budget for
all NASA operations, and then bitch that the five percent - more than is spent on
actual welfare (medicaid doesn't count) - handed out in corporate 'welfare' programs isn't enough)
Ladies and gentlemen, Rush Limbaugh! :bravo_2:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/29/rush-limbaugh-nasa-mars-water-leftist-agenda_n_8217610.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
QuoteOn Tuesday, Limbaugh’s paranoia went stellar when he argued (with a straight face) that NASA’s announcement of the discovery of water on the surface of Mars was part of a vast conspiracy by the Obama administration “to advance the leftist agenda.â€
He admitted to not having the specifics of the conspiracy, but “would assume it would be something to do with global warming.†He then went on to suggest that NASA will “find a graveyard†from “an advanced civilization†that died out because of rising temperatures.
Oh boy! Tell it like it is, Rush!
They found ....
They found ....
They found ....
Wait for it ...
It's coming ....
Here's what's going on .....
The GREAT SNATCH!
(http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q490/atheola/TANWC-TheGreatSnatch_edit_1442885419582.png_3.jpeg)
Hey ..maybe they will find the skeltitized remains of GAWD and we'll learn he's been dead all along ..
Yeah ..I kinda doubt that one too ..