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Mars Mystery: What HAS Curiosity Discovered?
Discovery.com ^ | Tue Nov 20, 2012 02:13 PM ET | Analysis by Ian O'Neill

Posted on 11/20/2012 1:45:34 PM PST by Red Badger

Science isn't something that just happens overnight. It takes many measurements, oodles of analysis, re-testing and re-analysis before any groundbreaking announcement can be made.

So, on the surface of Mars, inside Gale Crater on a plain called Aeolis Palus, our tenacious six-wheeled Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is doing cutting-edge laboratory work on an alien world and mission scientists are itching to announce a "historic" discovery.

"This data is gonna be one for the history books. It's looking really good," John Grotzinger, lead scientist of the MSL mission, said in an interview with NPR.

But what is he referring to and why all the secrecy?

For the past few weeks, rover Curiosity has been busily scooping dirt from a sandy ridge in a geologically interesting location called "Rocknest." Using a little scooper attached to its instrument-laden robotic arm, Curiosity has been carefully digging, shaking and dumping the fine soil grains into its Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) and Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instruments.

Recently, NASA announced some results from SAM after analyzing samples of Mars air. Interestingly, clues as to Martian atmospheric history were uncovered. Also, mission scientists announced an apparent dearth of methane in the air -- a result that undoubtedly frustrated many hoping for the detection of the gas that may, ultimately, reveal the presence of sub-surface microbial life.

It appears that SAM has made yet another profound discovery... but mission scientists are keeping quiet for the time being.

One of the prime mission objectives is for Curiosity is to understand the past and current habitability for life on the Red Planet. Curiosity can not directly detect the presence of Mars life, but it has been kitted-out with miniature laboratories capable of not only establishing what materials soil samples contain, but also whether the Mars soil contains carbon-laden organic molecules.

Should Curiosity detect these organics, the mission will have confirmed the presence of the building blocks of life on the surface of Mars. This does not, however, preclude the genesis of life on Mars, it just means that some of the ingredients are there.

According to this NPR article, Grotzinger refers to the SAM data as being the source of the excitement. Indeed, one of the instrument's objectives is to address "carbon chemistry through a search for organic compounds, the chemical state of light elements other than carbon, and isotopic tracers of planetary change," according to the JPL mission site.

Might these data indicate the detection of organic chemistry? This would certainly be "historic" news. Also, this would back up the Viking landers' likely discovery of organics in the 1970s -- a result that could only be confirmed after Mars lander Phoenix made the groundbreaking 2008 discovery that the Martian surface is laced with perchorates.

Although the focus appears to be on organics, this is pure speculation for now. Science isn't about announcing the first result, no matter how profound, historic or earth-shattering it appears to be. As an example, the initial SAM results for Martian air analysis hinted at the presence of methane, only for that result to be proven false during follow-up tests -- air from Earth (which does contain methane) was trapped in the instrument and needed to be flushed out before pure Mars air could be properly analyzed.

NASA JPL mission scientists have, again, rightly decided that nothing needs to be announced until further work is done -- even though they've communicated their excitement for a big discovery. They are, after all, human.

So now we wait...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Technical; Testing
KEYWORDS: astronomy; life; mars; space
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To: Red Badger
I look at it this way, WE PAID FOR THE THING, RELEASE THE DATA YOU BUNCH OF DRAMA QUEENS!

Nuff said.

41 posted on 11/20/2012 2:46:30 PM PST by The Cajun (Sarah Palin, Mark Levin......Nuff said.)
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To: dfwgator

lol


42 posted on 11/20/2012 2:48:31 PM PST by kjam22 (my newest music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VciTnYA4Bfk)
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To: Red Badger

Oh, yes. We await word of germs on Mars, it will be the biggest thing ever. As we deny that a growing baby in the womb is life.


43 posted on 11/20/2012 2:51:11 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
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To: steve86
I am relieved to see at least one mission picture without idiotic figures being photoshopped in. Gets old.

Yep. I was becoming suspicious of the program over the past couple of weeks. I knew they had discovered something because of the continued laboratory testing.
44 posted on 11/20/2012 2:51:56 PM PST by PA Engineer (Liberate America from the Occupation Media.)
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To: GeronL

Good point............


45 posted on 11/20/2012 2:53:34 PM PST by Red Badger (Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama just got them ALL back......................)
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To: The Sons of Liberty

Plus, he wrote “preclude” when he meant “conclude”, and “perchoate” when he meant “perchlorate” or “percholate”.

Definitely a Dem.


46 posted on 11/20/2012 2:54:32 PM PST by steerpike100
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To: Jack Hydrazine; Fred Nerks

Those photos are SO cool!


47 posted on 11/20/2012 2:58:29 PM PST by Candor7 (Obama fascism article: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html)
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To: SkyDancer

Hey! Shrodinger’s cat. What do you know.
How’z he do that anyway?


48 posted on 11/20/2012 2:58:29 PM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: dfwgator

LOL....


49 posted on 11/20/2012 3:02:15 PM PST by never4get (We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid)
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To: steerpike100

So, if they found signs of life there (e.g. soil microbes, fossils etc.) what would our reaction be? Seriously. Would we be excited that life can exist elsewhere? Would it change the way any of us think? I don’t have an answer, but am curious how this would affect people. Thoughts?


50 posted on 11/20/2012 3:04:24 PM PST by pieceofthepuzzle
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To: Candor7

WE HAVEN’T FIGURED OUT WHAT’S GOING ON ON EARTH YET.


51 posted on 11/20/2012 3:04:33 PM PST by Fred Nerks (fair dinkum)
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To: tet68

Dunno - he’s on Mars now. I think.


52 posted on 11/20/2012 3:11:08 PM PST by SkyDancer (Live your life in such a way that the Westboro church shows up at your funeral)
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To: ScottinVA

Oh, there is far more on Mars than rocks and sand. Far, far more.


53 posted on 11/20/2012 3:24:04 PM PST by atc23 (The Confederacy was the single greatest conservative resistance to federal authority ever.u)
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To: Red Badger

I was going to post something profoundly funny and sarcastic. But I see other amateur comedians have already done that. Geez... maybe they have found something really cool? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.


54 posted on 11/20/2012 3:28:27 PM PST by vortigern
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To: SkyDancer

Probably is on mars, I just looked out my kitchen
window and there he was big as life.


55 posted on 11/20/2012 3:30:12 PM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Red Badger

The only life on Mars is the microbes Curiosity brought with it..
But.... some microbes may have escaped from previous missions as well..

sometime they might find some of this life and deem it indigenous.. after its “evolved”..


56 posted on 11/20/2012 3:38:19 PM PST by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole..)
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To: tet68

LOL - ps, thanks for your service. My dad and uncle were in VN and my two brothers served in Iraq.


57 posted on 11/20/2012 3:40:17 PM PST by SkyDancer (Live your life in such a way that the Westboro church shows up at your funeral)
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To: Red Badger

58 posted on 11/20/2012 3:43:52 PM PST by jaz.357 (Welcome to hell. Here's your accordion.)
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To: atc23

Well, that`s certainly the theory of some, but so far...nothing yet beyond sand and rocks.


59 posted on 11/20/2012 3:51:32 PM PST by ScottinVA (I've never been more disgusted with American voters.)
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To: SkyDancer

Thank you and thank them for me.


60 posted on 11/20/2012 3:52:16 PM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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