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Mars Rover Sniffs First Hint of Water?
mhw25 writes "It is reported that the Mars rover Spirit is already well into its scientific mission, and may be detecting hints of water. The mini-Thermal Emission Spectrometer has returned its first image, with probable evidence of carbonates and hydrated minerals. We may know more after the rover rolls off its landing base, after making a 120 degree turn to avoid the airbag blocking its front ramp, to start analyses on soil from Thursday or Friday. An ongoing intrigue is already developing - a scientist reckoned that some of the soil around the airbag 'looks like mud, but it can't be mud'."
Isn't that what commets are primarily composed of? I fully expect H2O molecules to be present on Mars and every other planet. This should not be a suprise to anyone.
"I am curious though as to why they dont think it could be mud if they are indeed suspicious of water being present?"
Nasa doesn't like to operate that way. They don't want to finger a suspect and look at only proof that it's what they're after. Instead, they want to look at all the data and try to learn everything they can.
Seems to me they're just avoiding being overly zealous in their approach. In the process of proving something does exist, you risk avoiding the evidence that it doesn't.
"Derp de derp."
because as far as we can tell water cant exist in a liquid state on mars.
Ah, but how much water is the question. Certainly atmospheric pressures would indicate that large volumes of water may not be possible unless they were seeping or somehow otherwise protected from atmospheric effects. So, a correlative question might also be, how much water would be required for particle wetting to provide enough cohesiveness? I don't really know and my background is not in materials science but if the dust particles were small enough, perhaps a few water molecules could provide enough van der walls forces to hold the material together enough to resemble mud?
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Actually it would probably boil first. Freezing is a much slower process. The lack of atmospheric pressure would get to it long before the temperature ever did.
It would evaporate. IOW, vaporize. IOW, transition to gaseous form. This effect can actually be observed by boiling water at different altitudes. At sea level, water boils at around 100C. At higher altitudes, the boiling point is less, due to lower atmospheric pressure. Mars is just a really extreme case (ie, VERY low atmospheric pressure), and as such, the water would boil at a relatively low temperature. Possibly low enough that, rather than freeze on the surface, it would evaporate.
I'm guessing that its more of a simple issue of temperature. The rover is currently operating in -19degs F.
[sig] 10 + 10 = 100 [/sig]
Even once it has been released into the peer reviewed world, it will be sensationalized. How many times has there been a panacea cure for cancer published in Science? If you read the NYT, you'd say dozens. If you read Science, you'd say never.
There is a reason for everything. Sometimes that reason just sucks.
I'm pretty sure the highs get well above -40 C in the temperate and equitorial areas.
One particularly nasty thing about Martian soil (and one that would preclude planting most Earth plants -- even in greenhouses using Martian soil) is the high concentration of superoxides in the soil, making it like OxyClean. Earth's extremophiles, however, make me wary about making blanket statements that "life couldn't evolve or exist" in those conditions.
-- stream of did I lock the front door consciousness
How are we supposed to know that any of this evidence or these results are even real?
You can't. You're a conspiracy theorist, and can't be convinced of anything.
the MER team knew the exact results that they wanted this mission to produce years before launch
And similarly, you conspiracy theorists have already decided that the Mars landings which haven't even begun being built yet are fake.
Kelvin and Celcius are the same but with different Zero points.
I think it is easier to visualize the freezing/boiling point of water as a reference in the same way it is easier to visualize 1 litre of water weighing 1 kilo.
but that's me
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