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Mars Rovers Find More Evidence of Water
loconet writes "Space.com and JPL are reporting that the Mars Rovers might be on the verge of confirming that large amounts of water once flowed in a region of Mars that has looked curiously dry until now. Such a finding could be comparable to their discovery earlier this year of an ancient shallow sea on the other side of the red planet. Opportunity has found lumpy, odd rock unlike anything its seen to date. The rock concentration seems much rougher than the 'blueberries' found earlier on in the mission. Researchers hope to swing by the rock on the way out of Endurance for further study. 'It could just be one big mass of concretions,' Squyres said. 'I just don't know.' Meanwhile, Spirit, which has now climbed about 10 yards up a hillside, getting above the Gusev plain, found an interesting rock dubbed 'Longhorn'. Both rovers have been exploring more than twice as long as they were designed to last. And even though the Martian winter is at its coldest, engineers are confident that the rovers will continue, despite showing signs of mortality."
Martians took over the rover and programmed it with an ominous message:
"Nothing for you to see here. Please move along."
If they could just find some bottle it, then they'd never need to worry about government funding again.
Now, I want to know, is this Longhorn rock a symptom of this? And if so, is Microsoft giving money to OSDN, or have they gone straight to NASA to participate in "the growing trend of inserting ads more directly into online content"
It's funny... laugh... Please...?
Meanwhile, Spirit, which has now climbed about 10 yards up a hillside, getting above the Gusev plain, found an interesting rock dubbed 'Longhorn'.
No wonder it's taken MS so long to get Longhorn out. They've got to haul it from Mars!
the remains of the parachute and heat shield which were seen in other photos early on.
Yeah, not the most exciting thing but you could send the rover(s) on a long trip to see the remnants and examine stuff along the way.
Checking the remains would provide information for future designs regarding heat shield and parachute technology.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
more evidence from a diff perspective. It seems pretty likely now that water *did* or perhaps is even still, on Mars. cool.
CB)(*&^%$
free ipod and free gmail!
found an interesting rock dubbed 'Longhorn'.
Sheesh, when NASA works faster than Microsoft, there's a cause for concern...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Isn't it possible, since Mars does not have a thick atmosphere like earth, that rocks that are found on Mars's surface are not nessicarly from mars?
Your mammas flamebait.
The Mars roover has discovered water after a flash flood sweeped it away,
"WebTV: bringing the Internet into the shallow end of the gene pool since 1995" - Martin Bishop
There IS evidence of slashdot on mars:
Slashdot Rock
This is fascinating news, and seems to confirm many astronomer's / xenogeologist's wildest hopes for the Red Planet. But, and forgive my ignorance, where has the water all gone? The atmosphere is mostly CO2, I believe... so, somewhere, there's a bunch of H2 missing. And whether or not Mars ever supported life, I doubt it ever hosted an ecosystem on a scale large enough to convert that much water. Where'd it go? How'd it get there? Anyone?
The rovers are taking some wear from the martian environment. At one point I heard that one of the wheels on one of the rovers began experiencing more resistance to moving. I suppose the dust and dirt are begining to clog and gum parts up on the rover.
Opportunity has found lumpy
I was wondering why I felt like someone was following me yesterday....
This is not going to help my paranoia one bit.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
"There is no way NASA can lead us to believe that THIS [http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mer/images.cfm?i d=787] is a rock! It is very obviously organic. Just LOOK at it. It is some sort of fleshy, wrinkly creature, or remnant of one. Anyone with two eyes and half a brain can plainly see that.
;-)
Now the question is, why is NASA trying to mislead the public YET AGAIN [link to moon landing hoax website] [link to mars face page]!
blah blah blah..."
This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a bizarre, lumpy rock dubbed "Wopmay" on the inner slopes of "Endurance Crater.
Man, it looks like a fossilised elephant!
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that the release of the pictures of the Longhorn rock are delayed and will not be available until 2007.
Welcome to the land of the free...pay toll ahead...no photography...please open your bag...
Next you'll be saying that Gates purchased the U of Texas.
It's just a project name. They're not going to sell the next version of Windows as Microsoft Longhorn. Get over yourselves.
Modify the score for "funny" in your preferences to something like -6. That should guarantee that they'll always fall below your threshold.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Actually yes. Look here: and set Funny to -6. Just keep in mind some stuff that's interesting get's modded Funny and you won't see it.
Never confuse volume with power.
The only thing I hate more than hypocrites are people who hate hypocrites.
From the previous story, "Writing Software Worldwide Proves Difficult", it said 23 of 56 people couldn't find the Pacific Ocean on a map, and yet we can find water on other planets. Looks like all the people who got A's in geography work at NASA.
Next you'll be saying that Gates purchased the U of Texas.
No, but he did purchase Standford.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
'... It could just be one big mass of excretions,'
I think it's related with noticing the word "Longhorn" somewhere in the article
Next you'll be saying that Gates purchased the U of Texas.
No, but he did purchase Standford.
Really? I cand barely stan the thought...
Finally, more evicence of refreshing, live giving Dasani(TM) on Mars.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
And , the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
This picture of Endurance rook look realy like Dinosaurus Rex fecess .cfm?id =787
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mer/image
May be this can explain why Dinosaurus was extinguish!
Ceci n'est pas une Signature !
Could that "lumpy" rock be a fossil of a ?
Maybe we deserve this world ?
I don't know about anyone else, but when I first saw the picture, my reaction was not "Oh, it's a rock!"
In fact, not that I believe it is as such necessarily, it looks like a fossilized organic somethingoranother. The back end looks something like a frog. Now, this is probably proposterous (it is most likely a volcanic-produced rock), but I sure wouldn't mind being (accidentally) correct.
With the casual way that they mention that they *might* go by and check it out, I certainly hope that they do! Of all of the "rocks" that they have studied so far, I think that this one merits a much less casual reaction. I find their treatment of this discovery a bit odd.
Who knows...
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"We are Linux. Resistance is measured in Ohms."
Nonsense, it's just a cube that speaks.
Sorry , but you can't have the whole planet in winter. If its winter in one hemisphere its summer in another and AFAIK the rovers are both near the equator anyway (just on opposite sides of the planet). Can anyone explain what they're talking about?
I think you meant to say that the other way round
No but, yeah but, no but...
nasa can find evidence of beer on mars, we'll know for sure there was intelligent life.
Is it 5:30 yet?
sorry... i forgot the link
Bear story
Yesterday I was exploring Mars and found religious artifacts from a long dead civilization in a place called "Site 2". Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Imps to kill.
There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
It looks like someone dropped their liver.
---
IMHO, of course.
May the SOURCE be with you.
Arguably the most convincing piece of evidence that water exists on Mars surface has just been revealed.
After further maginication NASA observers were disappointed to find chewed gum blocking the faucet head's water hole.
If you think
So even Gates will have his Waterloo?
I'm sure the engineers would like to see how their entry and descent gear fared, but the scientists who are running the show at this point care about the history of Mars. Time spent checking out hardware is time wasted.
Sustainability and energy independence essay
I'd definitely say the rovers have been money well spent. I'm impressed by how long they've lived past their estimated KIA date. Most impressive. If only more NASA projects could be as successful.
"...found an interesting rock dubbed 'Longhorn'."
I can't even begin to count the number of anti-MS comments, but you have all overlooked the most likely explanation for this: a member of the Rover team is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, whose mascot happens to be the longhorn.
Still waiting for the Mars Rover to find evidence of water on the face of Mars Volta
If you think
The hottest parts of rentry in both the Terran and Martian atmosphere happen when it is much thinner than at the Martian surface. This is partly due to that the craft id moving at orbital velocities 10-20 the speed of sound. The Martian probes all had entry heat shields.
A NASA spokesperson said that the rover was projected to reach the Longhorn rock "sometime in 2005... no wait! 2006... um... 2007?"
Screw this "NASA found water today" and "Spirit discovered more water this month" and "scientists believe there's water in this rock" crap.
/. news. Sigh...
When is NASA going to bring back a sample of killer DNA bacteria back to Earth from Mars, clone a fast-growing horny chick in a glass box, and then let her loose to find the first guy to fuck hard and nasty before ripping his groin in two with her alien scissor legs?
'cause I'm waiting on that kind of woman, and I think it'd be a great way to go out in a blaze of...wait...never mind. I'm a computer nerd with a gut, pale white skin, and a rash that we won't talk about here. She'll be hunting a prime specimen with whom to sow her seed.
Back to Far Cry and
IronChefMorimoto
I didn't know these two little guys were still working. I guess the martian dust hasn't ruined them yet. It's great to see several million(or billion?) of tax dollars/funding spent, and actually have the equipment last for a good length of time. It's quite exciting to hear that they're still kicking..dust!
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
I'm glad you're smart enough to dismiss your observations of a video sent from thousands of miles away as wishful thinking- there are millions that look at that and see God.
What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey
I think the JPL press release the link i sposed to point to is here
done
Everyone is so excited about the possibility of liquid water on Mars, but has anyone considered that it might be some other type of liquid? Something with different properties that would explain the odd patterns?
This article intrigued me, but why is everyone so focused on water? Could the carbon dioxide or some other atmospheric gas be condensing in the cold north to form the odd runoff channels on the rock. This rock faces away from the sun and would therefore be one of Mars' coldest points. Could that be why there is little other than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? Could wind erosion and perhaps even blast shockwaves from meteorites have been causing the errosive-looking paterns in such an enviroment? With the atmosphere being lighter, wouldn't meteorites hit harder and more frequently than Earth? Finally, can we draw any similarities to our own moon's surface, a place which we know much more about?
(I ask because I have no idea)
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
"Meanwhile, Spirit, which has now climbed about 10 yards up a hillside, getting above the Gusev plain, found an interesting rock dubbed 'Longhorn'."
Actually they called it Longhorn because it's not what it appears to be.
...of water on Mars.
On totally unrelated news, NASA will equip their next generation rover with snow tires.
My Karma is so low that even my own postings are beyond my current threshold
To give a serious answer to a non-serious question, there will be a Mars Science Laboratory (rover) approximately the size of a VW bug landing on Mars in the 2011 launch window that is supposed to look for life in the ostensibly wetter northern areas of Mars, and a sample return back to Earth sometime in the 2013+ area. There is a window to send a mission to Mars every 2 years or so, since Martian years are ~2x longer than ours. This is actually an interesting problem, since Mars getting to be at its furthest point from Earth about now - and will be getting closer next year.
I think Captain Kirk is game for this...
Kirk: Are you lonley? Is there anyone like you... on this... planet?
Slim-girl with deadly hands: I am for YOU... James KIRK.
(Kirk-fighting-while-making-whoopee-Music:
thuh-thuh thuh-thuh thuh-thuh thuh-thuh thuh-thuh thuh-thuh thuh...)
David Syes
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Jammed drills aren't the least of the problems - both Spirit and Opportunity have been collecting sun-blocking dust on their solar arrays since Sol 1, and the available power is getting lower by the day.
I guess that little robot's pecker/drill got dulled humpin' rocks..., or maybe it drilled a rock, couldn't get it off, and maybe instead of a stuck wheel, it's dragging a rock from it's little bit...
Just an idea...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
"water once flowed in a region of Mars that has looked curiously dry until now"
um, excuse me, but what is "curious" about any part of Mars looking dry?
Can't the moderators delete those users with no sense of humor, so the rest of us don't have to listen to their plaintive mewling?
you fascist moderator fuckup
get a godamned funny bone
(OOoooO big suprise this one's a troll)
a fossilize cow pie?
6F 9E A9 1E 96 9F 74 27 ED B8 81 6D 0C 4E 1E 78
My other Sig is a 229.
Upon examining the rock, did the rover suffer from an unexplained BSOD?
Don't we already have enough here? If NASA needs water, they should just get it by hijacking an iceberg, like that guy on Salvage 1 did over 20 years ago.
Opportunity has found lumpy, odd rock unlike anything its seen to date.
I think they should name the next rover "Sheer Dumb Luck"
-- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
Snoo-snoo!
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
More free shrimp?
http://www.ljsilvers.com/press/freeshrimp.htm
Wait and tell us when they have actually found the fucking water.. why all this "on the verge of confirming" crap?
What would really be interesting is if they find a soulcube!
[alk]
I have a feeling that we are still fighting Galileo's battle. A particular strand of Christian thought - medieval Aristotelianism - is still making the running. Aristotle, on no particular evidence, thought that the planets were perfect, lifeless and unchanging - the Schoolmen adopted this as dogma - and scientists and engineers at Nasa are still trying to demonstrate that we occupy what is probably a very ordinary little planet, with a very ordinary set of dominant life forms, against people who think we are unique and very important in this huge universe. You know who you are.
You can still see the lens of Galileo's original telescope, which actually destroyed Aristotle's ideas for anyone with an open mind. I hope one day someone brings the Mars Rovers back to Earth, perhaps along with the Hasselblad left on the Moon. They are signs of a human achievement bigger than the Pyramids, St. Peter's or the Great Wall of China - and an achievement which is under threat from fundamentalists, whether Islamic or Christian. I still find it amazing that the country that has produced insitutions like NASA and Woods Hole has places that mandate the teaching of Creationism, and I find that far more worrying than a survey that suggests that only a minority can find the Pacific.
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
if there are elephant turds, then there are elephants. And where there are elephants, there must be water. Ergo, there must be water on Mars.
http://www.brushybasin.com/Gift_Fossils/PCS/body_p cs.html
has anybody ever said exactly WHY the two rovers are going to fail? Don't they have solar power? Seems like they would be able to recharge their batteries and keep going longer than this. What other parts fail just from becoming old?
When the rover first disembarked, there was a strange scene awaiting them which never reached the eyes of the public. Evidently a slender, white arm was portruding through the dust clutching a sword- The Sword- Excalibur! More on NASA's plans to conquer*cough* put a base on Mars later.
The power of Christ compiles you.
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Perhaps that a cosmic collision zapped the atmosphere to its current day position. Reguardless, something drastic happened.
Watch the strange rock turn out to be martian feces.
Or even...sperm whale carnage!
So expecting real evidence for scientific claims is somehow some peculiar and unfortunate leftover from the Middle Ages?
And we are supposed to be more comfortable with "expecting" things we intuit from first principles (just different ones)?
And skepticism towards such "expectations" is supposedly a sign that we are still stuck in the Dark Ages?
Dude, you seriously need a history lesson.
one got a jammed drill so the other went looking for a longhorn? but all found was some of those tasty blueberry things and the red-coated ones...
One of Spirit's wheels isn't behaving properly--causing them to actually drive Spirit backwards most of the time; both have shown some temporary software glitches (which have been resolved pretty quickly.)
--
$tar -xvf
It was a rock lobster.
nt
....And showed some amazing geological formations that looked like dried riverbeds and water-carved deep canyons, most serious planetary astronomers assumed that some time in the distant past water flowed on Mars. The fact that the two Mars Exploration Rovers has shown that it's more than likely we did once have liquid water on Mars means that the chances are good that life of some sort did evolve on that planet, though when the planet's atmosphere thinned the surface water vanished and what water is left on that planet is likely found about 1 meter or more under the surface of the planet.
My guess is that right now what the two MER's have seen will help guide the final design of the Mars Science Laboratory lander, a larger lander (about the size of a subcompact car) powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) for operations lasting over a year and fitted with all kinds of highly advanced probes, including possibly a soil sampler that uses a special drill to probe up to 1,000 mm into the ground for soil samples. I believe that MSL will likely provide the definite answer on just how much simple lifeforms are still existing on Mars living off the water trapped in the soil.
The scientist in me dislikes this talk of "evidence of water".
Isn't it more accurate to say that the rovers are finding more evidence that a relatively dense fluid was present at some point?
Couldn't it be some other liquified substance that didn't freeze at the temperatures we see now on the planet, or perhaps lower? Could liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide have eroded these structures in a manner similar to liquid water and then boiled away over time to settle at the poles, or form Earth's atmosphere?
As far as I can tell, the only reason we're talking about water is because that's the only fluid we've seen form these structures on Earth so far.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
And what about Rover?
Can't you see? It's everywhere! Soon, there won't be anything but advertising left!!
Oh, crap, I seem to be doing it too! Close your eyes, it's the only safe way!
Troll?
Loll,
lmao
lmgdao
lmmfgdao...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"