http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/mars/ en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:41:59 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2412628/posts Why should humans go to Mars? Many reasons for and against have been cited over the years, and many still struggle to see the relevance of this priority. It seems so far out, so detached from life on Earth, and in many ways it is. Mars is physically hundreds of millions of kilometers away. It is colder than the coldest environment on Earth and it has an atmosphere—or lack thereof—that would kill you within thirty seconds or do in a most unpleasant fashion. Compared to terrestrial destinations it loses hands down. However, we need to look at Mars in a... Frank Stratford http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2412628/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:41:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2398990/posts Samples of a colony of Martians have been put on display in the Natural History Museum, in London. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of a series of partly filled pits on the surface of a mineral grain from the Nakhla meteorite Photo: NASA/David McKay The microscopic aliens are on a slice of a meteorite in the museum. Nasa scientists, who used a scanning electron microscope to take snaps, say the bumpy surface resembles a fossilised colony of microbacteria – a simple form of life. Telegraph.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2398990/posts#comment Thu, 3 Dec 2009 03:08:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2397322/posts A new NASA study of a Martian meteorite that made headlines 13 years ago strengthens the original claim that the rock contains evidence of life on ancient Mars. Researchers at the Johnson Space Center used advanced electron microscopes that weren't available in 1996 to re-examine the magnetite crystals on the meteorite. The meteorite, called ALH84001, was blasted from the surface of Mars 16 million years ago, scientists say, and is thought to have landed on Earth 13,000 years ago. An American scientist found it in Antarctica in 1984. CBC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2397322/posts#comment Tue, 1 Dec 2009 02:10:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2393074/posts Scientists from Northern Illinois University and Nasa's Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston found dozens of valleys, shown in red, after using new software to analyse images of the surface and create the most accurate map to date. The valleys, first spotted in 1971, were caused by a network of rivers more than twice as extensive as previously mapped, pictured right. The new map shows water channels in a belt between the equator and mid-southern latitudes. Experts say this is consistent with heavy rain, and the presence of an ocean covering most of Mars's northern half. "It would also explain... London Evening Standard http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2393074/posts#comment Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:28:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2386439/posts LOS ANGELES – For NASA's stuck Mars rover, the Spirit may be willing, but the wheels could prove too weak. The space agency on Thursday outlined a rescue plan to try to free the rover Spirit, which has been bogged in a sand trap on the red planet for half a year. The risky operation is expected to last several months. "If it cannot make the great escape from this sand trap, it's likely that this lonely spot straddling the edge of this crater might be where Spirit ends its adventures on Mars," said Doug McCuistion, who heads the Mars... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2386439/posts#comment Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:55:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2383950/posts Carrying the most powerful telescopic camera ever flown to another planet, the satellite was launched in August 2005. Older observer satellites flown on previous missions to space were able to identify space objects no smaller than a London bus. But the state-of-the-art camera on-board Orbiter can spot something the size of a dinner table Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2383950/posts#comment Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:13:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2374248/posts Many people make a distinction between the origin of life and the evolution of life. In this view, biological evolution refers to the gradual development of the diversity of living things from a common ancestor, while the ultimate origin of life is a separate question. This is a legitimate point, but evolution is about much more than just biology. The evolutionary worldview is that all of physical existence, both living and non-living, arose through purely natural processes. With this broad definition of evolution, abiogenesis--the spontaneous appearance of life from non-living matter--is a necessity. If life did arise on earth by... ACTS & FACTS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2374248/posts#comment Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:08:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2374059/posts MOSCOW – A nuclear-powered spaceship that can carry passengers to Mars and beyond may sound like science fiction. But Russian engineers say they have a breakthrough design for such a craft, which could leapfrog them way ahead in the international race to build a manned spacecraft that can cover vast interplanetary distances. They claim they’ll be ready to build one as early as 2012. In a meeting with top Russian space scientists Wednesday, President Dmitry Medvedev gave the nuke-powered space craft a green light and pledged to come up with the cash to cover its $600-million price tag. “It’s a... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2374059/posts#comment Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:10:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2367933/posts WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2009 – A military institution designed to provide emergency communications has moved to new quarters in the Pentagon. Gary Sessums, left, Navy Capt. Rick Low and John Grimes discuss communications capabilities at the new Military Affiliate Radio System office in the Pentagon, Oct. 21, 2009. DoD photo by Sally Sobsey  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. John G. Grimes, the former assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration, cut the ribbon on the new Military Affiliate Radio System office on the fifth floor of the Pentagon today. The facility is packed with shortwave radios, radio-telephone... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2367933/posts#comment Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:23:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2359002/posts This just in from NASA, President Barack Hussein Obama face was found on the surface of Mars! Never before satellite photos have found Barack's face in the sand dunes of Mars and now NASA Scientist ponder how the likeness of Obama has come to form on Mars' surface. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2359002/posts#comment Fri, 9 Oct 2009 21:04:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2358749/posts AP: (Absolutely Phenomenal) Barack Hussein Obama has become the first man in history to preemptively step foot on Mars. After such an accomplishment there can be no other accolade possible...or is there? What awaits Mr. Amazing next? One can only think of the many amazing things that their more than mortal man is. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2358749/posts#comment Fri, 9 Oct 2009 18:26:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2357400/posts Video of Engine Test Using traditional chemical rockets, a trip to Mars – at quickest — lasts 6 months. But a new rocket tested successfully last week could potentially cut down travel time to the Red Planet to just 39 days. The Ad Astra Rocket Company tested a plasma rocket called the VASIMR VX-200 engine, which ran at 201 kilowatts in a vacuum chamber, passing the 200-kilowatt mark for the first time. "It's the most powerful plasma rocket in the world right now," says Franklin Chang-Diaz, former NASA astronaut and CEO of Ad Astra. The company has also signed... Universe Today http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2357400/posts#comment Thu, 8 Oct 2009 10:02:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2352985/posts Scientists have discovered craters in Mars filled with almost pure water ice with the help of UA technology and say they are hopeful that this discovery will lead to possible missions there for astronauts. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, comprises a team of UA scientists who operate the high-resolution camera that captured the images of ice on Mars’ surface from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. “UA's role was really key,” said Shane Byrne, member of the HiRISE team and assistant professor of planetary sciences at the Lunar and Planetary Sciences Laboratory, the lab HiRISE calls home. The Arizona Daily Wildcat http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2352985/posts#comment Fri, 2 Oct 2009 00:54:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2352961/posts China's first Mars probe mission will be delayed because of Russia's decision to postpone the launch of its mission to the Martian moon Phobos from next month to the year 2011. Russia's Phobos-Grunt mission had been slated to lift off aboard a Zenith rocket in October on a three-year mission to study Phobos and return soil samples to Earth. Yinghuo-1 orbiter was set to be launched with the mission. But Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, said on the agency's official website Tuesday that the mission will be delayed from October to the next launch window in... China Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2352961/posts#comment Fri, 2 Oct 2009 00:29:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2348247/posts September 24, 2009: Meteorites recently striking Mars have exposed deposits of frozen water not far below the Martian surface. Pictures of the impact sites taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show that frozen water may be available to explorers of the Red Planet at lower latitudes than previously thought. "This ice is a relic of a more humid climate from perhaps just several thousand years ago," says Shane Byrne of the University of Arizona, Tucson. Byrne is a member of the team operating the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE camera, which captured the unprecedented images. Byrne... NASA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2348247/posts#comment Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:41:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2347691/posts Craters gouged into the ruddy Martian terrain have revealed subsurface water ice closer to the red planet's equator than would be expected, new orbiter images show. The ice also seems to be 99 percent pure, instead of the dirty dust and ice mixture some scientists expected to see, scientists said today. space.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2347691/posts#comment Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:21:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2346937/posts PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will host a media teleconference at noon PDT on Thursday, Sept. 24, to discuss new research results from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The findings will be reported in Friday's edition of the journal Science. NASA will stream audio from the teleconference online. NASA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2346937/posts#comment Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:11:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2341578/posts Neil Armstrong's first small step for man was widely believed to be the start of a long and glorious road to the stars. Forty years after the first Moon landing, the dream has faded. Astronauts have been stuck in low-Earth orbit, boldly going nowhere. American attempts to kick-start a new phase of lunar exploration have stalled amid the realisation that Nasa's budget is too small for the job. And last week, a committee chaired by the aerospace engineer Norman Augustine concluded that "no plan compatible with the … 2010 budget profile permits human exploration to continue in any meaningful way". Guardian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2341578/posts#comment Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:05:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2341573/posts A series of huge cracks etched across crater basins on Mars were caused by lakes that have since evaporated, a new study concludes. The cracks were initially thought to have been merely a byproduct of thermal contractions in the Martian permafrost. But a closer examination revealed the cracks were too big for that explanation. Cracks caused by thermal contraction have a maximum diameter of roughly 213 feet (65 meters), according to analytical models. space.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2341573/posts#comment Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:59:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2339697/posts Mars, Earth’s arid red neighbor, may have had a more active past than previously believed. UT research scientist John Holt and his team have found large reserves of ice buried under rock near the mid-latitudes of Mars, which could mean the planet was once flowing with water. “We haven’t found any evidence of liquid water on Mars yet,” said Holt, who presented his findings Friday. “But it is a possibility.” The Daily Texan http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2339697/posts#comment Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:49:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2339539/posts William K. Hartmann painted this conception of an asteroid impact on Mars. Similar explosions formed many of craters that international space probes have observed on the red planet. Hartmann, co-founder of the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute, is an internationally recognized expert on impact cratering and the evolution of planetary surfaces. Among his many contributions to the field, the Meteoritical Society is honoring his discovery of the Moon's giant Orientale impact basin, a discovery he made as a graduate student in 1962 under the direction of space sciences pioneer Gerard Kuiper. The society also is recognizing his development of a... Happy News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2339539/posts#comment Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:10:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2338008/posts As America prepares to embark upon a new era of human space exploration, President Obama has commissioned a review of the nation’s human space flight plans. Known as the Augustine Committee, this panel has the important charter of evaluating the current NASA plan... Exploration must be recognized as a national imperative that sustains U.S. leadership in space; a significant increase in human space-flight safety should be accomplished under government leadership; we must leave low Earth orbit and explore destinations beyond; and sustaining robust funding and staying the course are imperative... ...Members of the committee presented their preliminary findings to NASA... LuckyBogey's Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2338008/posts#comment Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:08:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2329320/posts ... The most challenging impediment to human travel to Mars does not seem to involve the complicated launching, propulsion, guidance or landing technologies but something far more mundane: the radiation emanating from the Sun’s cosmic rays. The shielding necessary to ensure the astronauts do not get a lethal dose of solar radiation on a round trip to Mars may very well make the spacecraft so heavy that the amount of fuel needed becomes prohibitive. There is, however, a way to surmount this problem while reducing the cost and technical requirements, but it demands that we ask this vexing question: Why... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2329320/posts#comment Tue, 1 Sep 2009 12:50:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2320695/posts An image of the Victoria Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The image was captured at more of a sideways angle than earlier images of this crater. This view is similar to what would be observed by looking out the window of an airplane flying over Mars. The camera pointing was 22 degrees east of straight down (east is at the top of the image). livescience http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2320695/posts#comment Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:32:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2311417/posts Enlarge ImageConundrum. Researchers can't predict why methane (red and yellow areas) is so spotty in the Martian atmosphere. Credit: NASA Just as researchers were once again getting their hopes up, a new study undercuts the prospects for martian life. Scientists have discovered that methane in the martian atmosphere, one of the primary signals that biological processes may be at work today on the red planet, is behaving in unexplainable ways. The results challenge the latest evidence suggesting that Mars is--or was ever--inhabited. Mars has been a roller coaster for astrobiologists. In 1996, for example, researchers reported that a martian... ScienceNOW Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2311417/posts#comment Sat, 8 Aug 2009 16:43:07 GMT