Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

NASA Briefing on New Mars Finding This Afternoon

Posted by Unknown on from the mulder-found-exploring-face-of-mars dept.

ipsender writes with a NASA announcement: "NASA will host a news briefing on Thursday, Aug. 4, at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) about a significant new Mars science finding. The briefing will be held at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The new finding is based on observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2006." You can catch the briefing online at the NASA TV site.

29 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. An alien spacecraft by wsxyz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...mysteriously pinned to the bottom of a dust-filled crater.

  2. In AD 2101, war was beginning... by Penguinisto · · Score: 2

    ...okay, so we won't see a Zig.

    On a more serious note though, I actually hope to Heaven they present something insanely fascinating to the general public - enough to kick the government in the ass and get Mars human exploration seriously going.

    Sadly, I suspect it'll be something only of use to some niche of geologists.

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    1. Re:In AD 2101, war was beginning... by geekoid · · Score: 2

      You need to ask yourself: How are we finding out about the briefing? Is it from someone who watches every minutia from NASA? then don't hold your breath. If it's from someplace more accessible to the general public, then MAYBE i'ts a big deal the general public...whether or not the general public understands it's impact immediately is a different question.

      Lisa Pratt is involved, so my hopes are high the found evidence of life.

      http://geology.indiana.edu/pratt/
      http://www.indiana.edu/~deeplife/homepg.html

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:In AD 2101, war was beginning... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They're assuming that because you're whining about spending "billions" on it, when the total money spent on the entire space program (from which we actually do get productive returns that improve the general quality of life on earth) is less than one percent the amount spent on military action. If it's the money you're upset about, you should be re-directing your complaints. If it's the "people having hope for the future being better than the shit-hole of a present that we live in" that you're angry about, you're a short-sighted idiot.

      Frankly, by assuming you're a violence obsessed warhawk who wants to shoot and blow things up, they're giving you the benefit of the doubt, and regarding you as a better person than you probably actually are.

  3. My guess - by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Methane. It's going to be something about methane. Look at all the geologists on the briefing panel;

    The briefing panelists are:
    -- Philip Christensen, geophysicist, Arizona State University, Tempe
    -- Colin Dundas, research geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz.
    -- Alfred McEwen, planetary geologist, University of Arizona, Tucson
    -- Michael Meyer, Mars Exploration Program lead scientist, NASA Headquarters
    -- Lisa Pratt, biogeochemist, Indiana University, Bloomington

    1. Re:My guess - by SeNtM · · Score: 2

      Interesting. Isn't the presence of methane indicative of life?

      --
      "There ought to be limits to freedom." -George W. Bush
    2. Re:My guess - by cunniff · · Score: 2

      I noticed that too. My guess: they've found a currently active or very recently active volcano

    3. Re:My guess - by pahles · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, it is indicative of the presence of methane.

      --
      Sig?
    4. Re:My guess - by HappyHead · · Score: 2

      Methane, Large sources of easily available water, or Oil. One of those three are the most likely.

      Considering the focus on geology, it's also possible they've found a surface deposit of some rare earths minerals (such as those which are currently exported only by China), though you're right, methane is probably the most likely, and while geologists studying Mars might find it interesting, it's not nearly as significant to the rest of the human race.

    5. Re:My guess - by squidflakes · · Score: 3, Informative

      Humm... looking at the biographies of the scientists involved, I'm going to guess something about water, ice, and life.

    6. Re:My guess - by Darth+Snowshoe · · Score: 3, Informative

      They have certainly found methane on Mars, and so far can't conclusively explain where it's coming from, or its periodic nature;

      http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/marsmethane.html

      Here's the good bit;

      "Methane is quickly destroyed in the Martian atmosphere in a variety of ways, so our discovery of substantial plumes of methane in the northern hemisphere of Mars in 2003 indicates some ongoing process is releasing the gas," said Dr. Michael Mumma of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center [...]

      Take a look at Lisa Pratt, among today's panelists - her IU home page is kind of a big clue;

      Lisa M. Pratt, Provost's Professor of Geological Sciences, Biogeochemistry

      Research Interests:

      Geomicrobiology of sulfate-reducing microorganisms
      Biotic and abiotic fractionation of sulfur isotopes in modern and ancient oceans and lakes
      Influence of wildfire on carbon isotopic excursions during the Cretaceous
      Fate of complex organic molecules on the surface of Mars

            Ph.D., 1982, Geology, Princeton University
              M.S., 1978, Geology, University of North Carolina
              M.S., 1974, Botany, University of Illinois
              B.A., 1972, Botany, University of North Carolina

    7. Re:My guess - by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 2, Funny

      Look at all the geologists on the briefing panel

      Hmm, let's see ...
      Geologists -> Rocks
      Rock -> Mountains
      Mountains -> Beer
      Beer -> Bad Commercials
      So, it looks like Coors has officially sponsored the Mars expedition and will be using official NASA footage from the rovers for their next stupid commercial?

    8. Re:My guess - by Splab · · Score: 3

      I'm hoping oil then, that should get us to Mars in a hurry!

    9. Re:My guess - by pz · · Score: 3, Informative

      Lisa Pratt studies sulfur and specifically biological sulfur with respect to the surface of Mars. Check out her lab's web page:

      http://geology.indiana.edu/pratt/

      Here's a list of her research interests from that site:

      Geomicrobiology of sulfate-reducing microorganisms
      Biotic and abiotic fractionation of sulfur isotopes in modern and ancient oceans and lakes
      Influence of wildfire on carbon isotopic excursions during the Cretaceous
      Fate of complex organic molecules on the surface of Mars

      As far as I can tell from that list, Dr. Pratt is the only hard scientist. The others are more involved in managing the program (Meyer) or designing the instruments (Christensen, Dundas, McEwen). Interestingly, there are no post-docs or graduate students listed, and they would have been the lead investigators doing the actual work -- perhaps this is a reaction to the Felisa Wolfe-Simon snafu? I'm not familiar with the field, though, so much of this is speculation from 2 minutes' work with Google. Take it for what it's worth.

      --

      Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
    10. Re:My guess - by amn108 · · Score: 2

      > I want my money back.

      Yeah, well so does NASA :/

    11. Re:My guess - by Mindcontrolled · · Score: 2

      I am sorry that science can't provide you with the be-all end-all answers you desire. It is not designed that way. May I suggest taking up a religion instead?

      --
      Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
    12. Re:My guess - by pz · · Score: 2

      You're missing the point entirely and making baseless accusations.

      The point was to try and divine the nature of the announcement. The list of speakers includes the head of the entire observation project, people who were leading the instrument design, and the head of a lab that does nothing but science. Chances are the announcement is going to involve the theme of the hard science lab.

      (My lab does both instrument design and basic science. My dissertation had two major sections, the first labelled "Technology" that contained a description of a novel data collection method, and the second labelled "Science" that contained the results from applying said method. Given that I've spent my entire adult life in academia, have been part of large projects, and head my own lab now, I'm pretty certain I understand quite well what's involved, and the relative importance of instrument building and investigation.)

      While lab heads are clearly important, and I say this in part with the vested interests of being the head of a lab, the bulk of the non-administrative work on any project is done by graduate students and post-docs. That's why their names come first on publications. Thus, often when there is a big collaborative announcement, the lab heads and lead investigators (read: post-docs or graduate students) all get to bask in the glory. Note that I am not confusing lead investigator with principle investigator (the person who has ultimate responsibility for the project, and is nominally the laboratory head), as you seem to be.

      --

      Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
  4. Jobtanium by Nanosphere · · Score: 4, Funny

    According to reading from the Mars reconnisance orbiter, they have detected sizable quantities of Jobtanium, a rare element currently found on Earth. NASA is proposing to congress and the Obama administration a manned mission to Mars to collect this Jobtanium

  5. Trees by DigiShaman · · Score: 2

    They found trees. No?

    --
    Life is not for the lazy.
  6. Red Weed by Gauthic · · Score: 2

    The found red weed in the canals!

    Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife!

  7. Real Time by dylan_- · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's at 18:00 GMT. I assume everyone on Slashdot knows their GMT offset.

    --
    Igor Presnyakov stole my hat
  8. Re:timezones, schmzones by dylan_- · · Score: 2

    Because how hard is it to add 6 hours to EDT to come up with GMT?

    Thanks for proving his point! :) Everyone knows their GMT offset, so why not give those times? (I suppose it should really be UTC since it's space stuff...)

    --
    Igor Presnyakov stole my hat
  9. Re:timezones, schmzones by eepok · · Score: 2

    It's not. However, not everyone memorizes time zone differences.

  10. Science by press release by Jazari · · Score: 2

    This kind of science by press release is not something that should be encouraged. I respect NASA a lot, but their "we found traces of ancient life in a martian asteroid from Antarctica" a few years back dented their credibility.

  11. This better be good, NASA by markdowling · · Score: 3, Funny

    You made the front page of slashdot with a tease release - now you'd better produce. Nothing less than alien life or alternatively a new way to jailbreak iOS will do.

  12. It's: by Charliemopps · · Score: 2

    8/4/11 We've found evidence of something marginally important but are none-the-less very excited!!!!
    8/10/11 We would like to address the reports from the scientific community at large that our findings are "nonsense"...
    8/15/11 Ok, maybe we jumped the gun there a bit. We'll admit that perhaps we need more evidence than a single blurry image of a small squiggly looking thing to prove....
    9/1/11 Finding in August? What? We don't know what you're talking about. Now, about our amazing finding in the Arizona desert...

  13. Re:timezones, schmzones by _0xd0ad · · Score: 2

    Even crazier idea: you're an Anonymous Coward. Why don't you register so you can set the date/time format to whatever you want?

  14. Re:timezones, schmzones by _0xd0ad · · Score: 2

    And for the second time in two days I feel really stupid for posting. Obviously the AC was complaining about the time given in the summary, which of course isn't customized to reflect the time zone I've set.

  15. possible flowing water by demonbug · · Score: 2

    I bet they will say there is evidence of possible flowing water during the warmest months.

    Er, I mean, that's what they did say.