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Mars Rover Investigates Possibility of Ancient Microbial Life
Riding with Robots writes "The robotic geologist Spirit, now scurrying to reach a safe haven before the harsh Martian winter sets in, has found signs that explorers say point to hot springs or fumaroles in the Red Planet's distant past. That possibility is not only interesting geologically, but potentially biologically, since those kinds of environments on Earth teem with microbial life. Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, Opportunity continues its descent into a deep crater, where it has found other clues about the ancient waters of Mars."
I liked this title better: "Mars Rover Investigates Steamy Martian Past" But on a serious note, those rovers continually prove they were one of the best investments NASA ever made.
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Probably not. You've got a few gravitational encumbrances going the other way.The first is the earth's larger mass. Escape Velocity from Mars (5km/s) is MUCH lower than from the earth (11.2 km/s) requiring a larger "strike," creating more heat and launching deeper, sterile subsurface projectiles. Then you're fighting the sun's gravity instead of going with it. This means that you can't have debris slowly drift in space inward toward the sun until it intersects the path of the earth, it has to SHOOT straight from the earth to Mars, which is much less probable.
People who think they know everything really piss off those of us that actually do.