Posted on 11/24/2012 5:03:29 PM PST by lbryce
Data that NASA's discovery wee a sample of Martian dirt could be earth-shattering, but the space agency is taking time to check its work.
NASA's not sharing a 'historic' find on Mars... yet
Data from a sample of Martian dirt could be earth-shattering, but the space agency is taking time to check its work.
SAM, a mobile sample analysis lab, is currently mounted on Curiosity and finding interesting stuff in Martian soil.
It seems NASA and the Curiosity rover have found something exciting and nerd-tastic on Mars, but the space agency's scientists are holding back for now, despite how painful it appears to be for them.
NPR science correspondent Joe Palca happened to be in the room recently when John Grotzinger, lead scientist for the Curiosity mission at NASA, started receiving data on his computer from the rover's on-board chemistry lab, also known as SAM (sample analysis at Mars). SAM and NASA scientists on Earth have been busy analyzing a sample of Martian soil of late, and apparently the dirt from the Red Planet has a secret to tell.
"This data is going to be one for the history books, it's looking really good," Grotzinger said in the story that aired yesterday.
And that's about all he said.
Grotzinger and NASA have remained mum on what exactly Curiosity may have found in the Martian soil, saying it could be several more weeks until they're able to verify the data. The scientists need to make sure whatever earth-shattering find they have isn't an error or perhaps some kind of stowaway molecule or whatever it may be that hitched one really long ride from Earth.
So I contacted another space smarty-pants type not associated with NASA to see if he might have a guess.
Lewis Dartnell is a leading astrobiologist at The Centre For Planetary Sciences at UCL/Birkbeck in London. He makes it clear that with so little to go on, no one outside of NASA can know what the agency thinks it has, but, he says, "the SAM instrument is designed to detect organic molecules on Mars, so the smart money is on an announcement along those lines."
That's right, the smart money is on what we all were already thinking -- LIFE ON MARS.
The seas may be rising and more superstorms may continue to threaten humanity's most important megalopolises, but there could soon be an emerging market for condominiums on Mars to take our minds off of such challenges.
What do you think NASA's found on the fourth rock from the sun? Let us know in the comments. Or just tell us you know what it is, but then don't really tell us until next month.
Honestly that or DNA ingredients should be the only thing to move the needle ..my bet is diatom..or chalk..
With all the hype and buildup, this better be something BIG.
When do we start mining?
They found a note, written in Martian, saying that secular humanism is scientifically proven correct and that morality is relative. Oh, and NASA should be funded in order to find more notes that are in other places on Mars.
They found a raghead in their muslim outreach.
They found a raghead in their muslim outreach.
They found a raghead in their muslim outreach.
They found a raghead in their muslim outreach.
Okay, I Googled organic molecules to see if I could identify one that might really excite a NASA scientist. Obviously, it would have to be one that is associated with living organisms, and not just any old compound that happened to contain carbon.
Maybe I'm wrong about that and maybe they would flip out if they found a carbon compound on the surface, but it sure would be an anticlimactic announcement for the rest of us. Besides, they already know carbon is there; for instance, carbon dioxide makes up most of the Martian atmosphere and does not have to originate with life. No, it has to have something to do with life, imho.
Organic molecules found in living organisms fall into one of four major categories: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids. Astronomers long ago identified carbohydrates and proteins in interstellar clouds of gas and dust, so it seems that's not too likely to excite them if they also find them on Mars. OTOH, nucleic acids (DNA and RNA)seem almost too good of a discovery to be true as I think that would point directly to life on Mars. So... I'm guessing they've found some kind of fat molecule.
Wise guys more like it.
yeah, you are probably right. After all, his grandma and aunt say they witnessed his birth here on earth (in Kenya)....
I bet they found Marvin the Martin’s telescope and the top off of Bugs Bunny’s carrot. Or a copy of Heinlein’s
“The Red Planet.”
I think he was born in Kenya...and Hawaii. By Heavens the way he professes his Faith I’m SURE he is one of those born again types.
That is a good analysis, but also consider that the instrument in question bakes the samples at 1800F before measuring. Molecules like methane are broken up at that temperature, and I doubt anything like DNA would survive intact. On earth, that temperature is used for dissociation on methane as a feedstock chemical for manufacturing other chemicals, like ammonia. So, they are only going to detect some base molecules and atomic signatures, but those signatures may be in the proportions that point to things like methane or other organics.
Yep, with little green microbes in it.
This announcement is hype. Probably for funding.
THAT's very hot! Yes, many molecules will break up at that temperature.
We're talking hydrocarbons, here, I think. I'd be willing to bet on it (but only a cup of coffee!:-)). Fats are hydrocarbons. Methane is a hydrocarbon. You know what people will think of when they hear that word?... There's oil on Mars!!!
On Mars it would be Mirt!
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