Posted on 02/29/2004 2:25:17 PM PST by Brett66
Mars: A Water World? Evidence Mounts, But Scientists Remain Tight-Lipped There is no doubt that the Opportunity Mars rover is relaying a mother lode of geological data. Using an array of tools carried by the golf cart-sized robot -- from spectrometers, a rock grinder, cameras and powerful microscopic imager -- scientists are carefully piecing together a compelling historical portrait of a wet and wild world. Where Opportunity now roves, some scientists here suggest, could have been underneath a huge ocean or lake. But what has truly been uncovered by the robot at Meridiani Planum is under judicious and tight-lipped review. Those findings and their implications are headed for a major press conference, rumored to occur early next week -- but given unanimity among rover scientists and agreement on how and who should unveil the dramatic findings. Turns out, even on Mars, a political and ego outcrop hangs over science. Scientific bulls-eye It is clear that Opportunity's Earth-to-Mars hole in one -- bouncing into a small crater complete with rock outcrop -- has also proven to be a scientific bulls-eye. The robot is wheeling about the crater that is some 70 feet (22 meters) across and 10 feet (3 meters) deep. It is also apparent that there is a backlog of scientific measurements that Mars rover scientists working Opportunity have pocketed and kept close to their lab coats. For one, the rover found the site laden with hematite -- a mineral that typically, but not always -- forms in the presence of water. Then there are the puzzling spherules found in the soil and embedded in rock. They too might be water-related, but also could be produced by the actions of a meteor impact or a spewing volcano. A few spheres have been sliced in half and their insides imaged. Patches of these spherules, or "berries" as some call them, have undergone spectrometer exam to discern their mineral and chemistry makeup. Close-up photos of soil and rock have also shown thread-like features and even an oddly shaped object that looks like Rotini pasta. Brew of dissolved salts There is speculation that the soil underneath the wheels of both Spirit and Opportunity rovers contains small amounts of water mixed with salt in a brine. That brew of dissolved salts keeps the mixture well below the freezing point of pure water, permitting it to exist in liquid form.
Opportunity has revisited select spots in the outcrop, drawn there, in part, to look for cross-beds -- sedimentary deposits that are formed in beach, river and sand-dune environments. Using its Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT), the rover has carried out several cleaning and grinding sessions on exposed rock outcrop. Cross-beds are patterns of curving lines or traces found within the strata of sandstone and other sedimentary rocks. Cross-bedding indicates the general direction and force of the wind or water that originally laid down the sediments. Right around the corner Opportunity's research is a "work in progress", said Ray Arvidson, deputy principal investigator for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project from Washington University in St. Louis. Data is being gathered to present "a coherent story", he said during a press briefing last Thursday. "That story is right around the corner," Arvidson told SPACE.com . "But we need to finish this work in progress, finish the set of experiments, get the data down from the spacecraft, processed and analyzed. Then I think that the story will be known," he said.
Arvidson said multiple working hypotheses are still at play. Water is involved, but only on some of the hypotheses. Until coordinated experiments on the outcrop are completed, what the right hypothesis is remains unknown, he added. Severing the umbilical cord Mars exploration using the rovers has allowed on-the-spot "discovery driven science", said MER Deputy Project Scientist Albert Haldeman. He likened the Mars robot work now underway to deep ocean research using remotely operated submersibles. "It turns out that the best way to explore rocks [on Mars] is go look at craters. Mobility buys us the ability to do that. It was the right fit for looking at rocks," Haldeman told SPACE.com . "The discovery from the Microscopic Imager and seeing those spherules…and finding a larger population of spherules and seeing them in the rocks and the outcrop…that progression of discovery influences our thinking." Haldeman said the next step will be severing the umbilical cord between Opportunity and the crater it's exploring. The robot would wheel itself out of that site and onto the expansive terrain of Meridiani Planum. "That umbilical cord…that's hard to break. It's more than even just a tension within the science team," Haldeman said. Tantalizing hints Scientists are carefully analyzing the rock data gleaned by the Opportunity rover. "We really want to understand that we've got those figured out right," Haldeman said. Up to now they have offered some "tantalizing hints", he said, that speak to a possible relationship with water. Piecing together the story of what Opportunity has found involves great care and deliberation, Haldeman said, based on a wide-range of viewpoints and levels of expertise. "We want to be cautious," he explained. More to the point, the science output from Mars must withstand scrutiny by experts outside the rover investigation teams. "There are lots of geologists out there who are looking at these pictures and they are starting to drool," Haldeman said. "The American taxpayer that spent $800 million on this deserves a thorough analysis," Haldeman said. Slippery slope leading to life One scientist eagerly awaiting the news from Mars, particularly from Opportunity, is Gilbert Levin. He is Chairman of the Board and Executive Officer for Science of Spherix Incorporated in Beltsville, Maryland.
Levin is a former Viking Mars lander investigator. He has long argued that his 1976 Viking Labeled Release (LR) life detection experiment found living microorganisms in the soil of Mars. In 1997, Levin reported that simple laws of physics require water to occur as a liquid on the surface of Mars. Subsequent experiments and research have bolstered this view, he said, and reaffirms his Viking LR data regarding microbial life on Mars. Levin detailed his Mars views in a SPACE.com phone interview and via email. "It's hard to image why such bullet-proof evidence was denied for such a long time, and why those so vigorously denying it never did so by meeting the science, but merely by brushing it away," Levin said. "Of course, now that it must be acknowledged by all that there is liquid water on the surface of Mars," Levin added, "this starts those denying the validity of the Mars LR data down the slippery slope leading to life." Mars mud Levin points to Opportunity imagery that offers conclusive proof of standing liquid water and running water on a cold Mars. Other images show the rover tracks clearly are being made in "mud", with water being pressed out of that material, Levin said. "That water promptly freezes and you can see reflecting ice. That's clearly ice. It could be nothing else," he said, "and the source is the water that came out of the mud." As for the spherical objects found at the Opportunity site, Levin has a thought. "I wonder on Mars if it can rain upwards," he said. The idea is that subsurface water comes up through the soils and then freezes when it gets to the surface. "Maybe these little spherules form just like raindrops form up above," Levin explained. Levin said that brine on Mars is a code word for liquid water. He senses that great care is being taken by rover scientists because the liquid water issue starts the road to life. "That's the monument that they are afraid to erect without real due process," Levin concluded.
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 01:00 pm ET
29 February 2004
IMO Levin has it nailed...we speculated about it here on FR when the rovers started moving and the tracks were seen in the pictures...there is a kind of brine mix just below the Martian surface. The rover's wheels press it into a kind of mud. In fact it was seen at the landing site. The soil looked as if it splattered like cake batter.
FWIW I think Levin's experiment on Viking did indeed find micro-organinic life. We'll have to wait and see if he gets the credit.
prisoner6
Waddaya mean I'm sex obsessed?!?! You're the one with the dirty pictures!
Really? Does it work at all? My brothers Kidz bought him a solar array for his cabin on an island in Lake Nippissing a few years ago. It was the first power to his cabin since he bought the property in the early 60's. We don't talk much but I think he said it's enough to power a couple of small appliances, radio, tv, lights for a few hours a day. Apparently it didn't cost too much although when I've looked into solar arrays (that put out any kind of usable power) it seems to mee it added up to thousands of bucks along with (costly) battery packs that had to replaced often.
I've also noted those roadside radio stations...low power...broadcasting looping road info...are often powered by solar arrays. I see one such set up just about every day on a bridge over the Ohio river. Maybe five 3 foot square panels powering the lo power transmitter. I don't there's ever been any maintenence and it's never gone down even in poor weather.
prisoner6
Of course, if you did have a home RTG, there would be no point in putting it on the roof. It would be buried in the backyard.
I think there's a good chance they'll admit to the various small fossils we've seen in the rocks (i.e., tiny molluscs, coral, etc.), but not to the conch-looking fossils seen on the surface.
As to the "blueberries", it suddenly occurs to me where I've seen that shape and size object before. I've seen them in my garden, and in the woods, and in my barnyard. I've even seen them at the actual moment of production, when they've come a-tossin' out my goat's ass.
There are probably animals other than goats and whitetail deer that produce loose spherical fecal material, but those are the only two I know of.
That is not to say that the "blueberries" are fossilized ruminant turds. In fact, I rather suspect they're not. <g> I would not be surprised, though, if they're some analog to fungus or "cacti", of the very hard type -- plants that make very spartan use of water. I saw one photo that someone commented that some of they looked like they were "dying" -- dimpled, shriveled, in various states of decay. Their ubiquity -- buried deep in solid rock, buried in the sand, tossed about the surface willy-nilly -- is just too strange IMO for a mineral explanation, especially when combined with the lack of any non sperical examples. If mineral, I'd expect to see some that were teardrop-shaped, some that were flattened into a disc shape, etc. The consistency of the spherical shape says "biological" to me, at least -- as does that strange "peach line" they bear.
The overwhelming evidence discovered thus far makes it imperative we send astronauts to Mars to attempt to learn what happened to "kill" the planet and perhaps help us keep it from happening here on Earth, as well as to confirm the presence of hardy life that still remains, and the types of life that did exist, which could very well be similar to early life on Earth due to the planet's proximity. I've already seen what appears to be trilobite and erypterid fossils as plain as day in some of the pics.
I suspect one of two things -- or, two of two things. It could be that the planet simply lacks the mass to retain its atmosphere over a long period of time. Or, it could be that whatever created the asteroid belt also affected Mars, blowing off most of its atmosphere in the process. I think it's likely that both processes are involved. The planet is smaller than Earth, and, it's close to the asteroid belt, and, contains some really dramatic impact-scars, including one that goes nearly halfway across the planet, as if something really ugly took a long glancing blow before continuing off into space.
One other likely contributing factor would be the lack of a magnetic field, which leaves the planet's surface exposed to a variety of radiation that we're spared by our magnetic field.
On the "pro life" side, there's something I read about a while back, and have not heard a peep about WRT these two missions. If my hunch is right, one of the bits of data they've been holding very close to the vest is the sub-surface temperature.
I don't remember the exact figures, but I recall reading about a very dramatic air temperature gradient between near the surface, and a few feet above the surface. IIRC, the incredibly bitter cold temps we're familiar with hearing about are based on the avg. temp a couple of feet off the surface, but, when you get very close to the surface, it's a lot warmer, IIRC in the 70 deg F. range during the day.
The very thin air could explain this, if the ground temp is in fact considerably warmer than the air temps commonly tossed about, because it would have very inefficient heat conductivity and convection.
So, I think it's quite possible that the ground temp, esp. a few inches below the surface, may be much warmer than anyone would ever suspect given the commonly understood air temps. The implications for ground level (and lower) life speak for themselves.
This is also consistent with Levin's observations of liquid water being driven to the surface by the rover's wheels, and then freezing and glistening when the air hits it.
That was addressed in the list of links (about those experiments) that I posted a few days ago. It was maintained to fairly tight tolerances throughout the martian day.
They maintained it at near-identical (a couple of decimal places, IIRC) for the entire "day" length throughout the experiment.
***NASA's Viking Mission to Mars was composed of two spacecraft, Viking 1 and Viking 2, each consisting of an orbiter and a lander. The primary mission objectives were to obtain high resolution images of the Martian surface, characterize the structure and composition of the atmosphere and surface, and search for evidence of life. Viking 1 was launched on August 20, 1975 and arrived at Mars on June 19, 1976.
........The results from the Viking experiments give our most complete view of Mars to date. Volcanoes, lava plains, immense canyons, cratered areas, wind-formed features, and evidence of surface water are apparent in the Orbiter images.
....Further information on the spacecraft, experiments, and data returned from the Viking missions can be found in the September 30, 1977 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research, "Scientific Results of the Viking Project", vol. 82, no. 28. Viking Mission to Mars
I don't think they're water, for a variety of reasons. Consider: their color, their amazing uniformity of size, shape, and the "peach line" going down the side.
Water -- or rocks, for that matter -- would IMO come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with a lot of randomness. The unformity speaks against randomness IMO, as does the ubiquity. They're found tossed around the ground in great number, they're found beneath the surface, and, they're found inside of solid rock.
My money's on them being biological, either something like a fungus (there are some very hard fungi here on Earth, which are quite miserly with water), or some plant something like an "air cactus" (not that any such thing exists on this planet). They also look like goat and deer droppings. More like goat, actually, IMO. I've watched my goats toss out a load, and they tend to scatter and roll. Deer droppings, when I see them in the woods or my garden (grrr....) do have the same appearance (spherical, same approx. size as the marsberries), but Bambi tends to place them into piles rather than scatter them like marbles.
As I said earlier, I'm not suggesting they are ruminant turds. Apart from the obvious (ruminants on mars? yeah right), there's that obstinate "peach line" that defies explanation. (And while I've never gotten up close with my goat's contributions, I doubt they'd have that line, even though they do seem to be nicely spherical, with consistent size.)
I really wish they'd show us some recent color images. They've so far sliced several of the berries, but we've no idea what color they are inside. They look black, but, these are black and white images.
The pale blue exterior, combined with a hard, solid black interior, would be consistent with a fungus, maybe something like a schleroderma (which I've probably just mangled).
OTOH, the uniform size is intriguing, especially when combined with the ubiquity. What I'm getting at is that if they were fruiting bodies, it might make sense that they'd all be the same size, assuming that we're looking at a "crop", all at the same maturity. Even so, I'd expect more sample to sample size variation, but, there are some plants that do manage to have fairly uniform size, so let's accept for discussion that they're all at the same maturity.
But, that theory falls apart when we take into account their distribution. Some are scattered on the surface, some are embedded in rock, some are buried in the sand, but all are the same size.
So, what does that leave us? If they don't "grow" (in size), but are "produced" at their final size, that brings us back to the goatshit. Or, perhaps some kind of seed, or "megaspore"? In either case, there'd be an animal or vegetable source that would form them internally, and then eject them. There are plenty of plants that eject their seeds, and lots of fungi do it too (puffballs, etc.)
But in either case, where are the sources?
I see two possibilities (for this theory). One would be a subsurface plant or animal that ejects its waste (or seeds/spores) at the surface, and the other would be a surface plant/animal that either travels, or, grows, produces its seed, then withers and dies (possible eons ago).
Well, there's some more pointless musing. FWIW etc.
Ah, the comparative weight thing. Pull off the solar panels, their associated PMADS, and battery, and stick in the RTG, and its PMADS. The difference? Probably not much. Remember the ALSEP RTGs were designed to be carried by people (albeit at one-sixth g). My guess is that the engineers could have made it work, if the choice were made to go that way. I'm thinking maybe something other than science was involved in this decision.
I would say...elk.
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