NASA Gets A Good Look At Mars Soil And A True Puzzle

Chicago Tribune/Yahoo ^ | 1-7-2004 | Jeremy Manier

[blam]

NASA gets good look at Mars soil and a true puzzle

By Jeremy Manier, Tribune staff reporter

Opening its primary digital eyes for the first time, the rover Spirit on Tuesday transmitted the most detailed photos ever sent from the surface of Mars, revealing an alien vista of deep russet sands, a mysteriously sticky form of soil and a far-off mesa in the light orange haze.

The rocky scene is about four times sharper than any previous photos from the planet, and experts said the probe should be sending even larger, three-dimensional views of its terrain within a few days. Scientists will use those photos and information from an infrared imaging instrument to choose the most promising places for the rover to start visiting next week in search of signs that Mars once had a habitat suitable for life.

It's difficult to imagine life surviving now in the barren landscape around the rover--though mission planners have said one goal of the robotic Mars expeditions is to scout out possible landing sites in case the U.S. ever sends astronauts to Mars.

But on Tuesday, researchers analyzing the new images took a moment to look at the planet with simple wonder.

"My reaction has been one of shock and awe," said Jim Bell, leader of the mission's imaging team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The sticky-looking soil may be the first true puzzle of the mission, scientists said. Technicians believe the probe's landing airbags disturbed the dirt near the rover when they retracted back under the craft, soon after the landing. The dirt that was dragged by the airbags now looks oddly folded, almost as if it were damp clay.

"It looks like mud, but it can't be mud," said principal investigator Steven Squyres. "It's not like anything that I have ever seen before. It's very weird-looking stuff."

Researchers believe Martian soil in the rover's vicinity is bone-dry near the surface, adding to the mystery. Squyres said it's possible that moisture evaporating from below left a salty, cohesive crust at the surface.

[Unmarked Package]

Watch for NY Times Headline:

Mars Probe Commandeered by Halliburton to Search for Tar Sands on Red Planet

[mewzilla]

In the upper right hand corner, it looks like there are little pockmarks in the whatever-it-is. Could the what's-it just be some molten rock that was thrown up then went splat and hardened after a meteor strike?

[Ichneumon]

"It looks like mud, but it can't be mud," I love this kind of thinking. When they went to the volcanic vents on the Ocean floor they said "no life could survive there", but it teams with life. When they went 7 miles to the ocean bottom they said "no life could survive there", but as soon as they turned on the lights, a fish swam away.

Clarke's Laws:

1. "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."

2. "The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible."

3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

-- Arthur C. Clarke

[Steve Van Doorn]

It’s the spice

[Ichneumon]

Watch for NY Times Headline: Mars Probe Commandeered by Halliburton to Search for Tar Sands on Red Planet

Or: "Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Coverage More Extensive Than Realized"

[Frank_Discussion]

Possibly. We'll have to wait for spirit to go exploring to check it out more thoroughly, and that is going to be sometime around the 14th.

*sigh*

[ElkGroveDan]

Watch for NY Times Headline: Mars Probe Commandeered by Halliburton to Search for Tar Sands on Red Planet

CORRECTION: Mars Probe Commandeered by Dick Cheney's former company to Search for Tar Sands on Red Planet

[mewzilla]

The 14th? Uh-oh, did Marvin manage to throw a spanner in the works after all?

[spokeshave]

""a mysteriously sticky form of soil""

dingleberries....?

[Brilliant]

Maybe it's just magnetic.

[proust]

"My reaction has been one of shock and awe," said Jim Bell, leader of the mission's imaging team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

With all the money we pump into this progam the least they could do was make up a new slogan. "Shock and Awe" is so 2003 anyway.

[Steve Van Doorn]

If there was life on Mars it could be oil.

[Frank_Discussion]

There is an obstruction from the landing bags, and they'll have to program the system to go another way off of the lander. Not a show stopper by any means, but a head scratcher.

[Frank_Discussion]

X-Files Black Oil? Aaaaaagggghhh!!!

[Lazamataz]

"a mysteriously sticky form of soil"

Uh-oh.

I had the same thought.

Bill Clinton has been there.

[mewzilla]

An obstruction from the landing bags...?

[Frank_Discussion]

That is remarkable close to how the lead scientist looks right now, I suspect...

[shawnlaw]

There's oil in that thar soil! Load up the truck Jed we're movin' to the Hills, Beverly Hills that is!!!!!

[blam]

" Unless they melted from the impact and residual heat of the lander and instantly froze in those shapes. "

Yes, something like that...all over the planet.

[The Shootist]

Aaaaaaaa! Run away! Di-hydrogen monoxide! Oh! The humanity!