Brine on Mars?

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Posted by michael on Friday February 20, 2004 @01:57AM from the still-need-gin-vermouth-and-olives dept.

Bagels writes "A new article on MSNBC (coming originally from Space.com) reports that the both Rovers may have struck water in the form of brine. The Opportunity rover found hints of salty water in the trench that it dug, and scientists note that the Spirit rover is currently digging a trench of its own to investigate the soil that clings to its treads, suggesting the possibility of moisture. The brine would only be small amounts of water mixed with salt, which can exist in liquid form at very low temperatures. More images are available over at NASA's rover site." Reader frovingslosh would like to add: "I'm just hoping that when you get around to posting one of the many stories that the rover has found mud on Mars that you might include a link to the slashdot article where I predicted this but got moderated as 'funny'." Done!

38 of 333 comments (clear)

Did someone say "brine?" by SYFer · 2004-02-20 01:59 · Score: 5, Funny

Scientists now believe that advanced colonies of Sea Monkeys once inhabited Mars.

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1. Re:Did someone say "brine?" by Ragnarok21 · 2004-02-20 03:03 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Brine? Who cares...now if they had discovered beer...
And where there's brine... by turnstyle · 2004-02-20 01:59 · Score: 4, Funny

...there's shrimp!

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Here's what I do: Bitty Browser & Andromeda
1. Re:And where there's brine... by Carthag · 2004-02-20 02:02 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich.
  
  That- that's about it.
I'm going to go out on a limb here.... by clifgriffin · 2004-02-20 02:00 · Score: 5, Funny

I believe this is obvious proof that Mars used to have oceans. Yes, oceans. And because they had oceans, they had life. And because they had life, they had Elephants. Only they weren't called Elephants. They were called Marlaphants.

Yeah, Marlaphants.

Anyone taking bets?

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clifgriffin > blog
1. Re:I'm going to go out on a limb here.... by torpor · 2004-02-20 02:12 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Marlaphants rock. I want some on my pyjama's!
  
  --
  ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
2. Re:I'm going to go out on a limb here.... by Bish.dk · 2004-02-20 02:17 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Other people have made similar extrapolations.
  
  Burn, karma! burn!!
3. Re:I'm going to go out on a limb here.... by Gothic_Walrus · 2004-02-20 02:24 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Frovingslosh was modded "+5 Funny" for his comment about water...and then it came true.
  The parent to this comment? Also "+5 Funny" (right now). How long before they discover the Marlaphants?
  
  --
  Goo goo g'joob.
Obligatory Seinfeld Misquote by Joe+the+Lesser · 2004-02-20 02:04 · Score: 5, Funny

Hey George, Mars called, and they're running out of shrimp!

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"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
1. Re:Obligatory Seinfeld Misquote by Politburo · 2004-02-20 02:55 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Oh yeah? Well the Jerk Store called.. They're running all out of YOU!
The first step to empire by SparafucileMan · 2004-02-20 02:05 · Score: 4, Funny

And so begins the great Martian Salt Trade.
My god... it's full of hot-dogs! by Channard · 2004-02-20 02:07 · Score: 3, Funny

Coming soon - Bonanza 2012, starring the head of Lorne Greene: Mars - the new frontier, thousands of fortune seekers stake their claim on the red planet, hoping to make their fortune panning for frankfurters.
Great! by HarveyBirdman · 2004-02-20 02:07 · Score: 5, Funny

Now there will be salt mines for the riff-raff when I take over Mars.

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--- Ban humanity.
Salt? by Pirogoeth · 2004-02-20 02:07 · Score: 5, Funny

Maybe it's leftover salt from Martian civilizations de-icing their driveways...

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Happiness is like peeing yourself. Everybody can see it but only you can feel its warmth.
This just in by SparafucileMan · 2004-02-20 02:07 · Score: 5, Funny

Rover is picking up hints of Martian Cities made entirely of Gold off in the distance. Spanish mercenaries, get ready!
My theory... by dnaboy · 2004-02-20 02:09 · Score: 5, Funny

My guess, one of these days one of the Mars rovers will stumble on upon Bikini Bottom, and be treated to the whimsical antics of SpongeBob, Patrick, Plankton, and Squidward. Come on, there's no space helmet wearing sassy squirrels like Sandy on earth. If there were, would I be sitting here typing?
Don't they mean they found spice? by Cesaro · 2004-02-20 02:11 · Score: 5, Funny

This would be much much more exciting if they found spice.

Other rover was actually taken by a sand worm.

In other news, new rovers will roll without rhythm. :)
1. Re:Don't they mean they found spice? by AndroidCat · 2004-02-20 02:57 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  No, it's really brine. The other rover was taken by a giant kosher dill pickle.
  
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Fe2O3 by martinX · 2004-02-20 02:18 · Score: 5, Funny

I hope they rust-proofed the Rovers.

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When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
Not Morocco after all by KamuSan · 2004-02-20 02:19 · Score: 3, Funny

So the Rovers are not in Morocco/Sahara after all...
Normally by maroberts · 2004-02-20 02:20 · Score: 5, Funny

If you dig a trench in the sand and find salty water, you should start running because the tide is gonna come in any minute!

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Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
H2O IS ON TEH SPOKE! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-02-20 02:21 · Score: 4, Funny

Stop the importation of Martian Dihydrogen Monoxide now! It's threatening the Earth's Dihydrogen Monoxide industry!
Gee... by Syberghost · 2004-02-20 02:24 · Score: 3, Funny

You mean there might actually be water on Mars, meaning that there's oxygen, that we could extract and breathe?

If only someone had mentioned this possibility before.
Wait a minute.... by bob670 · 2004-02-20 02:28 · Score: 5, Funny

Brine? Brine means pickles? Pickles means Mars was (or still is) inhabited by a highly evolved race of cucumbers? Earthlings eat huge quantities of pickles on burgers? Meaning McDonald's could be considered a weapon of mass destruction? So now Mars will declare war, great, this is just what the economy needs...
Mmmmm, pickels... by Saeed+al-Sahaf · 2004-02-20 02:35 · Score: 4, Funny

So now we know where all those pickled odities you find in redneck bars come from. I knew those things floating in brine must have come from another planet.

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"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
Oh no, not again! by Dan+East · 2004-02-20 02:58 · Score: 5, Funny

Hasn't anyone else noticed this?

The mars face has returned!

Dan East

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Better known as 318230.
Venutian Beach Front Condos... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-02-20 02:59 · Score: 4, Funny

Maybe... just maybe, Mars was similar to Earth some-umpteen-billion years ago. And Earth will be like Mars in some-umpteen-billion years.

I'm willing to take an entreprenurial risk and say we're overlooking the real moneymaker here... and that's Venus... once Earth moves out of this cushy orbit, Venus is going to move in. A couple billions years after that... Hot Venutian Chicks on my beaches.

awwwYEAH.
Gotta love science... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-02-20 03:20 · Score: 5, Funny

You stick a couple of 100 million dollars worth of water detecting apparatus aboard a rover, and how do you eventually find the wet stuff? Right, it sticks to the tires...

Doh!
Dealerships... by grgyle · 2004-02-20 03:26 · Score: 3, Funny

Everyone always warns you to always refuse the underbody-coating option, I'm sure NASA was trying to keep costs down when they went to the rover lot. Maybe those salesman really are correct after all...

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----- And all that the Lorax left here in this mess was a small pile of rocks, with one word...UNLESS.
Since the scientists are looking for... by sczimme · 2004-02-20 03:28 · Score: 5, Funny

signs of life on Mars, and since it's likely that (being scientists) some of them are Monty Python fans, I humbly submit that the project should be called...

"The Life of Brine".

/ducks, runs away

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I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
With apologies to Nickelodeon.... by General_Corto · 2004-02-20 03:43 · Score: 3, Funny

Administrator O'Neill: Are ya ready engineers?

Engineers: Aye Aye, Administrator!

AON: I can't hear you!

ENG: AYE AYE, ADMINISTRATOR!

AON: Ohhhh.... who's driving around on a planet briney?

ENG: Spirit Squarepants!

AON: Along with his good friend Opportunity!

ENG: Spirit Squarepants!

AON: He's grinding at rocks with his robotic arm...

ENG: Spirit Squarepants!

AON: Hoping his file system does him no harm!

ENG: Spirit Squarepants!

All Together: SPIRIT SQUAREPANTS, SPIRIT SQUAREPANTS, SPIRIT SQUAREPANTS

AON: Spirit.... Squarepants!
Cool! Mud... by praedor · 2004-02-20 03:54 · Score: 4, Funny

That means that NASA can start putting cool mudflaps on future rovers. You know, those flaps with the naked ladies on 'em? R-r-r-r-r baby!

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In Bushworld, they struggle to keep church and state separate in Iraq as they increasingly merge the two in America.
Re:Better way to dig by forged · 2004-02-20 04:03 · Score: 4, Funny

I think the words you're looking for are Beagle 2.
We saw (or rather not) what happened when the lander crashed on Mars. Seriously, what did they expect ;)
No Life On Mars by PrintError · 2004-02-20 04:03 · Score: 3, Funny

There can't possibly be any life on mars.

The club scene is a barren landscape, and the whole place is just one big red light district.
water? by chunkwhite86 · 2004-02-20 04:11 · Score: 4, Funny

What happens if the rover DOES find water? Would it sink or would it float? Logic dictates that if it floats, it is therfore a witch and must be burned.

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I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
Ok,it's not a game anymore... by thrill12 · 2004-02-20 04:12 · Score: 3, Funny

I want whoever had hidden my shiny roundmarbles on Mars to come and tell me the truth.
I lost these things since the first grade, sniff, how am I supposed to get them back from there?

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Slashdot: stuff for news, nerds that matter, matter for news, stuff that nerd
Leaky rovers by hazem · 2004-02-20 04:55 · Score: 4, Funny

They BOTH found it? Maybe the rovers are just leaking some of their antifreeze?
Re:Water staying in atmospheres. by The12thRonin · 2004-02-20 06:05 · Score: 3, Funny

You can find a number of documents online discussing why Venus did get stripped of most of its water, despite being heavy and having a fairly active geology.
Would that have to do with all the women's spas on Venus? John Grey world seem too agree with me on that one.