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NASA's Mars News Is Not Life, But Perchlorate
leighklotz writes "In an update to the little green men story of not-life-on-Mars, NASA has twittered: 'The buzz this weekend was due to an interesting soil chemistry finding, still preliminary, but now avail here:' where 'here' is NASA Spacecraft Analyzing Martian Soil Data. The exciting bit: 'Within the last month, two samples have been analyzed by the Wet Chemistry Lab of the spacecraft's Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer, or MECA, suggesting one of the soil constituents may be perchlorate, a highly oxidizing substance.' Also, 'NASA will hold a media teleconference on Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 2 p.m. EDT, to discuss these recent science activities.'"
Yeah, me neither.
What if I do the same thing, and I do get different results?
So who had the job of explaining this to Pres. Bush, and how long did it take before he understood?
Perchlorate can be used for explosives ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchlorate ) and suggests the presence of unlawful combatants on Martian soil.
After a Martian belched on the lander's instruments during Mar's version of the 4th of July weekend it's understandable that they would get a false positive for life. After the Martian sobered up he cleaned the lens and promised never to do it again so there's still hope of detecting the faint signs of life coming from the Martian soil. In a related story the yellow ice crystals were the result of the same over indulgent Martian who has also promised to stop pissing on the lander's leg. Hopefully now that the Martian work week has begun NASA can go back to looking for trace signs of water.
It'll be like in that Disney movie where Christopher Lloyd was a Martian. The name escapes me right now. They'll find all kinds of fascinating stuff in soil and rocks and it'll be fascinating like crazy. Then, when the power supply dies and the rover freezes forever, it will be about ten feet away from where a city the size of New York would have come into view. That's a hundred quadrillion dollars well spent!
McCain/Palin '08. Now THAT's hope and change!
So, you're saying that after we send all of the people with The Right Stuff to Mars, that they'll end up just as fat as the average America, but will at least have an excuse?
I know... but I've got karma to burn.
I used to perchlorate my coffee every morning, but then I read that the drip method actually gives you more caffeine. So the mars people are stuck with 1960s technology then?
Caveat Utilitor
Get your ass to Mars!
æeee!
...the EPA will now make Mars a Superfund site...Mars missions are going to have to wait until it's cleaned up.
Kevin
Don't be silly. This is obvious evidence that extra-terrestrials have been on Mars and left behind perchlorate traces from their rockets. Either that, or Martians have just blasted off somewhere in their rockets. Wonder where they've gone?
that or tyler durden been there already
Maybe the President just needed a few days to rent and watch Total Recall, then convince Governor Schwarzenegger to go to Mars and start the ancient Martian machine that creates a breathable atmosphere.
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
NASA has twittered
God help us.
Its = possessive. It's = "it is"
What do you call a Perchlorate with ADHD?
A hyperchlorate.
*groan*
Oh yeah. Didn't think that all the samples would have perchlorate. Guess that's why I don't work for NASA.
Perchlorates are a normal part of decomposing electronic devices.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
No way am I believing that mars has perchlorates now!
I find it more interesting that when Lithium perchlorate can be decomposed to give off oxygen. If this compound is in abundance on the martian surface, well, why don't we have a city there already? :) It needs to get pretty hot to release Oxygen, but I thought about that. Nukes. If there is plenty of the stuff just lying on the group we should just nuke the place and hey-presto we have an atmosphere! :P
Take what ye can. Give nothing back!
Cmon NASA, stop being coy. You found it didn't you? I'm bummed you won't report on the ancient Martian gateway into deep inside the planet, marked with ancient pictoglyphic scriptures with overtones from Egypt. You know you have it. You know you've found the interdimensional gateway where your inside people had supersecret meetings with The Progenitor, a master being who designed evolution here on Earth. What's with this wussy "interesting chemical" crap?
So, you're saying that all we'd have to do is...start...the reactor?
If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
The first place I would look would be Grover's Mill, New Jersey.
http://twitter.com/OLDTELEGRAM
Hard to say, K'Breel has been quiet for some time. Too quiet.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
These are intermediate results, and should be treated as such. From TFA,
The team also is working to totally exonerate any possibility of the perchlorate readings being influenced by terrestrial sources which may have migrated from the spacecraft, either into samples or into the instrumentation.
Wouldn't it be amusing if some joker, before launch, had sprinkled a handful of dirt into the analysis chambers? (And by "amusing", I mean in the "How close do you think I can steer this ocean liner to that iceberg?" sort of way.)
Nothing for 6-digit uids?
Quit giving the martians ideas.
-The world would be a better place if everyone had a hoverboard
I am the Lorax I speak for the trees...and algae, and bacteria, and...
...you oxymetabolistic-centric bastard.
"I guess the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel." -- Addison Bain
the sea is full of hydroxide
We must make every effort to cleanse our seas of this life-threatening chemical!
And while we're at it, we should filter out all the DHMO as well.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."