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[cameron]

Press Release: "NASA to Announce Mars Mystery Solved"

(Nature Geoscience has Embargoed Details until 11 a.m. EDT Sept. 28)

NASA will detail a major science finding from the agency’s ongoing exploration of Mars during a news briefing at 11:30 a.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 28 at the James Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The event will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

News conference participants will be:

· Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters

· Michael Meyer, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters

· 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

· Alfred McEwen, principal investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) at the University of Arizona in Tucson

Sorry, I know this is an announcement of an announcement. Scientific curiosity piqued.

Livestream links
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public
http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDh4uK9PvJU

Edit: Nature Geoscience paper: "Spectral evidence for hydrated salts in recurring slope lineae on Mars"

Press Release: "NASA Confirms Evidence That Liquid Water Flows on Today's Mars"

New findings from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars.

Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, researchers detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. They darken and appear to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons, and then fade in cooler seasons. They appear in several locations on Mars when temperatures are above minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius), and disappear at colder times.

Dark, Recurring Streaks on Walls of Garni Crater

Dark narrow streaks, called 'recurring slope lineae,' emanate from the walls of Garni Crater on Mars, in this view constructed from observations by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Recurring 'Lineae' on Slopes at Horowitz Crater

The dark, narrow streaks flowing downhill on Mars at sites such as this portion of Horowitz Crater are inferred to be formed by seasonal flow of water on modern-day Mars. The streaks are roughly the length of a football field.

HiRISE captioned images about RSL (recurring slope lineae)

HiRISE ‏@HiRISE
Here’s a list of all our captioned images mentioning RSL - http://www.uahirise.org/releases/rsl/

 

[GPsych]

Everyone wants the announcement to be aliens but it won't be.

 

[Rentahamster]

Major to NASA or major to the general public?

 

[Veritigo_X]

I hope it's about the face. That's the biggest 'Mars Mystery' I can think of.

 

[Fenderputty]

What mystery could they be talking about?

Major to NASA or major to the general public?

This answer is always NASA and internet space nerds.

 

[Chris R]

Bet it has something to do with the streaks the found on Mars that occur during "Summer"

 

[smurfx]

What mystery could they be talking about?

probably something water related.

 

[Dega]

Major to NASA or major to the general public?

To hamsters

 

[akachan ningen]

Why do they have embargoes on stuff like this? Just tell us!

 

[Josh5890]

Everyone wants the announcement to be aliens but it won't be.

Anything less would be a disappointment.

 

[Thatonemoor]

What ever wants: Hey guys we found Aliens!

What we will get: Hey guys these rocks are neat and might have been made by water dripping in on the planet millions of years ago!

 

[Chris R]

http://www.space.com/30618-mars-water-streaks-rsl-mystery.html

This is the thing I was talking about.

 

[Fireblend]

Hopefully water related.

Water aliens.

 

[Rentahamster]

To hamsters

Wheels and alfalfa on Mars confirmed.

 

[Good Job Bob]

They may have possibly sort of kind of perhaps found something which could potentially maybe indicate there was water on Mars at some point.

 

[EMT0]

On my birthday; neat.

 

[Bodacious]

Itsfuckingnothing.gif

probably

 

[Africanus]

Mars has rock formations that indicate that at one point, Mars and Earth were conjoined.

 

[Ayt]

The NASA hate on this site is depressing.

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

The last NASA announcement was pretty neat.

To geaks, it will be interesting im sure.

 

[adj_noun]

They've found a Q-36 Space Modulator. Sadly, we are obstructing views of Venus.

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

Mars rover found an alien rover.

 

[Kurdel]

I hope this isn't another "We found traces of water on Mars" press conference.

 

[Inquisitive_Ghost]

The NASA hate on this site is depressing.

I'm not seeing so much hate as I am playful poking at the fact that most major scientific announcements are not major to laypeople.

In fact, I see tons of GAF wishing NASA had more funding all the time.

 

[Kickz]

Old lady ghost is just a rock formation.

TADAaaAAA

 

[NullPointer]

Get off my lawn.

Literally.

 

[N.Domixis]

Why dont they send a rover into a cavern, Im sure there is water deep into the cavern systems and probably life.

 

[xam3l]

We found life on Mars!

Its microscopic tho.

And it's not actully life... more like death... it was alive even before the dinossaurs.

It's dead now. Theres nothing there actually.

 

[Salmonax]

They're going to announce that WE were the aliens all along!

 

[bonesmccoy]

Mars is such a shit hole.

 

[Veritigo_X]

We found life on Mars!

Its microscopic tho.

And it's not actully life... more like death... it was alive even before the dinossaurs.

It's dead now. Theres nothing there actually.

You act like that wouldn't be a big deal.

 

[HariKari]

The NASA hate on this site is depressing.

NASA has a habit of hyping up discoveries that aren't major to the average person.

 

[-Horizon-]

But can we conquer it?

 

[Harmen]

Anything less would be a disappointment.

They always disappoint.

We found life on Mars!

Its microscopic tho.

And it's not actully life... more like death... it was alive even before the dinossaurs.

It's dead now. Theres nothing there actually.

That would be HUGE, actually. Offcourse there are no big/complex organisms on Mars living the life now, that is not what they are searching for.

 

[Blader]

Mark Watney is alive.

 

[ThankYouDaletech]

Probably found some ghosts in an underground cavern nbd.

 

[Zoned]

They better deliver something. It's been really long time since we have achieved something significant in space exploration.

 

[Madridy]

They found an ancient alien potato farm.

 

[Goro Majima]

If it was extra terrestrial life, it'd be plastered all over CNN and everywhere else right now.

edit: Obama himself would be talking about it

 

[N.Domixis]

The will announce they have found viruses. lol

 

[bananafactory]

They found Gary Buseys childhood home

 

[Green Wiggly]

Probably found some ghosts in an underground cavern nbd.

Again? This is why they got de-funded in the first place.

 

[FelixOrion]

We found life on Mars!

Its microscopic tho.

And it's not actully life... more like death... it was alive even before the dinossaurs.

It's dead now. Theres nothing there actually.

Even the implication that, at sometime, there was life on a world other than Earth, even if it is there no longer, would be HUGE.

They better deliver something. It's been really long time since we have achieved something significant in space exploration.

Uhhhhh New Horizons?

 

[PeskyToaster]

Jade Helm wasn't for Texas you fools. It was for Mars. An announcement so close to the recent Sept 23 doomsday??? Can't be a coincidence.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

"We found a living being on Mars. To find out more go watch The Martian, coming to theaters October 2nd."

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Bowie time?

We found life on Mars!

Its microscopic tho.

And it's not actully life... more like death... it was alive even before the dinossaurs.

It's dead now. Theres nothing there actually.

That would legitimately be one of the biggest scientific discoveries ever.

 

[Lifejumper]

Viral marketing for the martian?

 

[Prez]

Earth microbes that the rovers took with them are surviving and reproducing on Mars.

 

[Walter White Walker]

Oh good, something to look forward to being disappointed by on Sept. 28th.

 

[Stike]

Get off my lawn.

Literally.

We just want to beautify your planet with a Walmart.
And an oil pipeline.

Don't worry, we'll stripmine Earth first

On topic: Can't wait! But what's that EDT timezone? That's not exactly clear to me...