• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

NASA: Seasonal Water Flows on Mars

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Stike

Member
To everyone who wonders why there is a coordinated news event:

Because of this thread. If info gets published piecemeal and non-scientific journalists gobble up all kind of weird info, things get out of control really quickly and people make stuff up - like some of us here :p

They do this to make sure all answers are answered properly and nobody yells "aliens" and going nuts with partial info.

And yeah, "major" finding sounds like something water or even microbial related.
 
T

The Artisan

Member
i saw some news about nasa having theoretical tech that turns co2 into o2 that could get astronauts to mars in 2030, but due to funding reasons they may not get to it until 2050. don't know all the details. maybe this is related to that.
Retro4ever said:
Anything less would be a disappointment.
Click to expand...
this is true, but it could still be something really cool.
 
H

Hoje0308

Banned
Obligatory:

18znzpfhbq3znjpg.jpg



Stike said:
To everyone who wonders why there is a coordinated news event:

Because of this thread. If info gets published piecemeal and non-scientific journalists gobble up all kind of weird info, things get out of control really quickly and people make stuff up - like some of us here :p

They do this to make sure all answers are answered properly and nobody yells "aliens" and going nuts with partial info.

And yeah, "major" finding sounds like something water or even microbial related.
Click to expand...

Yeah, science journalists loves to jump the gun. The worst offenders, in my view, are fan pages like I Fucking Love Science that usually mean well but are too interested in being the first page on Facebook or Twitter to post something revelatory to be reliable.
 
H

hipbabboom

Huh? What did I say? Did I screw up again? :(
God! I know they need to do these things to create buzz for funding but NASA are such cock teases! These next 4 days are just gonna be the worst! ;_;
 
S

Stike

Member
Let's be rational for a moment!
If they say there is a "mystery solved", it suggests that there was a question to begin with.

Like where did all the water go?
Or what about those signs of erosion we found?
 
E

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
Quick Google search of the participants, such as Ojha Lujendra, who authored publications on Recurring Slope Lineae, makes me think it's probably going to be about that.

Recurring Slope Lineae

jFzrBHi.jpg


Perhaps the most intriguing planetary dynamic process discovered in recent history was hidden in plain sight for over a decade. Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) are narrow, dark-toned streaks that descend steep Martian slopes, beginning in higher-lying rocky outcrops. We have watched them grow, fade, and reappear every year by taking repeated orbital images. They grow fast, over time scales as brief as a week. Their seasonal behavior and preference for warm equator-facing slopes suggests that something volatile, like briny water, could be involved.
Click to expand...

It was another student, Lujendra (“Luju”) Ojha, also working on DTM production, who finally caught the small lineae on crater walls growing between images. After Luju raised a flag to the HiRISE Principal Investigator Alfred McEwen, the hunt was on to track down the origin of the strange lineae. They were first discovered in the mid-latitude southern highlands (published by Alfred and coauthros in Science in 2011), but are now known to be abundant in equatorial regions (announced in Nature this year), particularly within the deep canyons of Valles Marineris (work I presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference this year).
Click to expand...

Mary Beth Wilhelm

Mary Beth Wilhelm is an early-career planetary scientist and organic biogeochemist whose current research focus is on biomarker preservation in martian and terrestrial environments.

She is currently a member of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Science Team, a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, and a NASA Civil Servant. She has published academic research in the fields of astrobiology, geomicrobiology, and analog science and exploration, and has geological fieldwork experience.
Click to expand...

PhD Candidate. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 08/2012-Present.

PhD thesis investigations involve characterizing the preservation of biomarkers in Mars analog environments to elucidate potential targets for future exploration and interpreting data being collected on the surface of Mars today.
Currently conducting studies of biomarker preservation in the Atacama Desert in Chile and the Antarctic Dry Valleys, which are two of the oldest and driest deserts on Earth and are excellent terrestrial analogs for the moisture conditions and soil chemistry occurring on the surface of Mars.
Investigating the ability of unaltered pyroclastic glass deposits to concentrate and preserve organic material with ToF-SIMS.
Analyzing ancient hydrous minerals on Mars using the CRISM spectrometer currently in orbit.
Click to expand...

Alfred McEwen

His major research interest is understanding active geologic processes such as volcanism, impact cratering, and slope processes. He is PI of a proposed mission to Jupiter's hyperactive moon Io. For Mars and the Moon he is studying a broad range of topics in planetary geology. He is also pursuing studies and proposals for future missions and experiments at Earth and to Jupiter's moons Io and Europa.
Click to expand...

My number one guess is more in depth comprehension of what RSL is made of, since it is currently a "mystery".
 
U

ultratruman

Banned
What are the chances we get some new information of a discovery out of this, and it's not a publicity thing where they're going to suggest the previously published report about the viability of briney water is maybe the cause of the slope lines?
 
D

dEvAnGeL

Member
in all honesty, do GAF thinks we will see aliens on our lifetime? you know like the government announcing that contact was made with another life form, that would be nuts
 
Melon Husk

Melon Husk

Member
Slope Linae? Why not just call them lined slopes or linear slopes. Who decided that every extraterrestrial feature should have a latin name?

Brine wouldn't surprise me one bit, all but confirmed it can exist for brief periods on the surface before sublimating

Elfforkusu said:
Major for NASA and science, boring to the general public.
Click to expand...

.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Diverse organic matter found on Mars by NASA rover
News
26
3K
Melon Husk replied
  • Locked
NASAs Curiosity Rover and the water paradox: how was there ever liquid water on Mars?
35
5K
Insane Metal replied
  • Locked
NASA finds evidence of life-supporting conditions on Saturn’s moon Enceladus
2 3
135
23K
Santiako replied
Blackbird Interactive (Homeworld: DoK) collaborates with NASA for Mars colony demo
3
2K
IbizaPocholo replied
  • Locked
[NASA] A Decade After Launch, Mars Orbiter Still Continues Full Science & Relay Ops
32
5K
Angelcurio replied
Top Bottom