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Mars Express Confirms Water on Mars
jki writes "So, finally: Through the initial mapping of the South polar cap on 18 January, OMEGA, the combined camera and infrared spectrometer, has already revealed the presence of water ice and carbon dioxide ice. This information was confirmed by the PFS, a new high-resolution spectrometer of unprecedented accuracy. The first PFS data also show that the carbon oxide distribution is different in the northern and southern hemispheres of Mars. The MaRS instrument, a sophisticated radio transmitter and receiver, emitted a first signal successfully on 21 January that was received on Earth through a 70- metre antenna in Australia after it was reflected and scattered from the surface of Mars. This new measurement technique allows the detection of the chemical composition of the Mars atmosphere, ionosphere and surface." On another note, NASA has gotten some sort of signal from Spirit, but it's still not fully functional.
Terraforming?! Do you know what this means? It means that we now have rocket fuel, air, and drinkable water all for the taking! The primary equipment necessary is one nuclear power plant! That just leaves the problem of rockets that are still in one piece by the time they make it to Mars.
Segway into GCNR rockets. They can be used for space travel, and landing and taking off. We could even build CO2 breathing "flyers" for easy transport from orbit to the surface and back. If NASA can, they should start work on the proper engines immediately! WhooHoo!!!
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I don't think the parent question was intended to be funny. I think it's a serious question. I will rephrase:
These new probe imagers have impressive resolution. Any chance that they can be used to identify lost landers and determine what happened to them? It might be useful to somebody to know if a lander ended up in one big piece or thousands of smaller pieces.
I'd actually argue that as long as 5-10% of science funding goes towards feeding the public fantastic 'revelations' then the absolute size of the other 90% is far more likely to become and stay large.
Giving the public something to capture their imaginations is a far lesser crime than allowing the majority of science resource in this day and age (admittedly not public money) to be frittered away on 'curing' dandruff, limp hair and stubborn stains.
Centralised, organised world research council. NOW !!
Why is it bad news for the brits.. it's good news for everyone. Science is not a competitive pursuit.. it's a collaborative one.
It's kind of sad really all these nerds who pretty much owe their lives, livelihoods and amusement to advanced technology constantly pooh poohing this great science going on.
Ah well - the confluence of indifference, stupidity and radical Libertarian 'prices of everything'.
See If NASA promised that Mars science would guarantee the slashnerds could share illegal music for free forever I'm pretty sure those damn Trekkie buffoons could get behind it.
Live long and eat Cheetos, fat goofy weird comicbook store guy.
That's why you're not an engineer for NASA. You worry about the little things or you stand on the sideline and watch.
... and now you're just as aggressively generalizing and attacking Europe. *sigh* Try to show some class and not yourself fall down to the levels of those you're attacking (or your impression of them).
All I can see is that they're very excited, happy and proud by the results, as they should be. These feelings are all positive ones and a sign that they're dedicated to the work they do. I seem to recall NASA engineers crying in joy when the Spirit sent back its first signals. I understand them, and I understand why ESA is very relieved by these achievements. They need all the success and publicity they can get, just like NASA, since space organizations like these are constantly fighting to not have their fundings lowered.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
Why does every press release have to mention how they are doing it "better" than we Americans are.
Err, the only mention of Europe in the press release was the very last paragraph.. "Mrs Edelgard Bulmahn, German Minister for Research and Education, who is also chair of the ESA Council at ministerial level, said at the press conference: "Europe can be proud of this mission: Mars Express is an enormous success for the European space programme."
We are looking at the same press release, right? Because that quote doesn't seem to justify your assertion that ESA has a serious case of American Wang Envy
There is a place for Europe and the US and [insert name of country here] in space exploration. And justification in each country being proud of its successes, and congratulating the others on their successes.
If Mrs Bulmahn's comments offended you that much, then I apologise on her behalf, and on the behalf of The whole damn socialist European Union
I haven't seen anyone note yet that in 2002 NASA discovered the exact same.
No, they didn't. They demonstrated that it was very likely that water was present; the press at the time obviously played that up as "we've found water", but it was not proven. As recently as two or three months ago I remember reading articles about how what they found might not actually be water at all.
What the European mission has now done is proven beyond reasonable doubt that the hydrogen Nasa found is, as we thought, contained in water.
This is not pointless duplication of effort - it's a perfect example of two space agencies producing complementary work and building on each others' successes to further human knowledge.
And it's a crying shame that idiots in America and Europe alike - I'm speaking in general terms, not at you specifically - feel compelled to put down the other side's efforts and hype up their own.
This is science, not sport - everyone's on the same side here.