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NASA Says Mars Once "Drenched With Water"

NASA is currently holding a press conference (carried live on NASA TV) where they are discussing findings from the Mars rovers. They are saying that the crater that the second rover has landed in has convincing evidence that it was once drenched or covered in liquid water. They cite the tiny spherules, odd holes in the rocks, sulfur in the spectrometric analyses, and evidence of an iron sulfate hydrate (a hydrate is a chemical compound which includes water molecules in the crystal lattice). Update: 03/02 19:45 GMT by M : CNN has a story, or see the NASA press release.

28 of 1,048 comments (clear)

  1. So much... by i.r.id10t · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... for CowboyNeil saving money on his auto insurance...

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
  2. and this couldn't have come sooner? by chrisopherpace · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wanted my free shrimp from Long John Silvers! Damn! Info Here

  3. Re:Key point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    > sedimentary rocks are going to have fossils. ... and fossils means fuel, which in turn means they must have WMDs.

  4. gun jumping by kippy · · Score: 4, Funny

    I love how this story was posted during the opening remarks of the press conference before they could go into much detail.

  5. So how long before... by The+Ancients · · Score: 4, Funny

    Some creative company wants to find, and market this 'untouched natural' water?

  6. Geek planet alright by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Funny

    So Mars haven't taken a bath or shower in ages. No wonder they're finding crusty salt brine residue.

    --
    One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  7. "...and then... by mark0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "... the lense on the camera got really fogged up. That's when we really got suspicious."

  8. There's water, maybe there's life by lavalyn · · Score: 4, Funny

    And then there are fossils. Which means the next NASA mission will be funded by Halliburton after all.

    --
    Doing the Right Thing should not be preempted by making a buck.
  9. Re:Key point by mark-t · · Score: 4, Funny
    sedimentary rocks are going to have fossils. ... and fossils means fuel, which in turn means they must have WMDs.
    Right... and fossil fuels mean more greenhouse gasses, which causes the temperature to rise...

    Egad!!! We may have just found a way to teraform mars! ;)

  10. You spend $100 billion... by Ga_101 · · Score: 5, Funny

    To equip 2 Rovers with the best water detecting equipment known to man and how do you find water?

    You get mud stuck to the tyres!

    But in all seriosness, Good on NASA.
    But it certainly makes a more life seeking mission like beagle 2 all the more important.

  11. Re:woohoo by Xeed · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, I think you were forgetting about the whole alien overtone. Also, the water isn't there anymore. They are still looking for the big alien device to bring it all back.

    Also, I'm voting for Arnold when he runs for King of Mars. I'd like him to fix the drought.

    --
    ...don't question it!!!
  12. Fossil fuels? by MAXOMENOS · · Score: 4, Funny

    This would be great news for the space program, as Bush would make the invasion and conquest of Mars a national priority.

    1. Re:Fossil fuels? by taped2thedesk · · Score: 5, Funny
      This would be great news for the space program, as Bush would make the invasion and conquest of Mars a national priority.

      That's the liberation of Mars, you insensitive clod!

  13. A la Steve Jobs by gfilion · · Score: 5, Funny

    and at the end of the conference, they'll pretend that it's over and say:
    and one more thing... we found life on Mars!

  14. Re:Where did it go? by xeaxes · · Score: 5, Funny

    Rent the movie Spaceballs. It explains how to move water and other features from one planet to another.

    --

    "BEHOLD, CORN!!" - Dr. Weird, ATHF

  15. Yeah by Greyfox · · Score: 4, Funny

    Before they even got to the good bits about the Ewoks...

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  16. Men are from Mars by Fragmented_Datagram · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oooh... so maybe humans were originally on Mars... and they screwed up their planet with pollution, overuse of resources, etc., but managed to transport a few people to Earth to start over...
    And maybe we'll look to terraform Mars and move there once we've hosed this planet too. The cycle continues...
    Heh... yeah. Anyway, back to work now.

  17. Re:Key point by Narcissus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh I love being able to set a caption from within the URL!

  18. It's time to crash the moon into mars! by Dutchmaan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Add some mass to the planet for added gravtiy, massive heat increase to melt the ice caps and creat liquid water...

    Make it pay per view to keep it profitable!

    We can call it a Weapon of Mass Creation!

    WE CAN'T LOSE!

    1. Re:It's time to crash the moon into mars! by PYves · · Score: 4, Funny

      for some reason your post made me want to play billiards.

  19. Re:Where did it go? by mackinaugh · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, I watched this documentary once with Arnold Schwarzenegger where they showed where all the water is. It's in giant ice blocks in this huge cave. There's also an alien device designed to release it as vapor, thereby creating an atmosphere on Mars.

  20. I Was Hoping by jazman_777 · · Score: 5, Funny

    they had found some Spice.

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  21. Re:Key point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    NASA has never lost a human in the sun, therefore a 1.5 year mission to the surface of the sun is perfectly safe as well.

  22. Re:Key point by Cruciform · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fossils aren't that rare. If you wait outside a Tom Jones concert a few of them might even hit on you.

  23. Re:Key point by ThisIsAnExampleAccou · · Score: 5, Funny
    Not if you go at night.

  24. Re:Key point by tumbaumba · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...then it's very likely fossils are in sedimentary rocks...

    I wander about religious implications of finding fossils or hopefully even life on Mars. I can imagine all sorts of new funny religions popping up as a result of this. Any of religious nuts want to comment on this?

  25. Re:Key point by damien_kane · · Score: 4, Funny

    You *can't* prove a negative.

    Prove it...

  26. Speaking of Terraforming... by Dread_ed · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am really tired of people "looking for life on (insert planet/moon name here)." If it can't jump up and say "Howdy!", prance around in a skipmy outfit like that Vulcan chick from Enterprise, or shoot a ray-gun with a tentacled appendage, who cares! Evolution is king, baby: let's not coddle those weak little Martian organisms. If they can't handle the competetion with some strapping Earth-born organisms...fuck em!

    Think about how long it takes to terraform a planet. Shouldn't we have started by now? It's past time to seed some plants to eat the carbon dioxide, release some oxygen and let them begin digging the water out of the earth and releasing it into the atmosphere.

    Speaking of plants, I wonder if tossing cactus/sensamilla seeds out of a baloon bourne lander would be a good way of finding water. Those plants are pretty hardy, and anywhere the plants start to grow would potentially have water sources near the surface. I bet I could devise some wicked experiments to carry out on Mars with plants that were modified genetically to withstand the harsher conditions.

    If only the scientific community would grow some gonads we would have a great decade of science and experimentiton ahead of us.

    What is the matter officer? I have obeyed all of your silly Earth laws!

    --
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