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Mystery of Missing Martian Methane Deepens

Posted by Unknown on from the send-burritos dept.

astroengine writes "NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has been scouring the thin Martian atmosphere for methane — a potential tracer for the presence of Martian life. However, since the gas also can be produced geologically, any findings promised a meaty debate. That discussion can be shelved, perhaps permanently, new findings from a team of Curiosity scientists shows. The most extensive search yet for methane in Mars' atmosphere has come up empty. 'It's disappointing, of course. We would have liked to get [to Gale Crater] and found lots of methane and measure all the isotopes,' lead researcher Christopher Webster, with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., told Discovery News."

14 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. Shouldn't that be... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 4, Funny

    Mystery of Missing Martian Methane Magnifies?

    1. Re:Shouldn't that be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      an all-star alteration acolyte apparently

    2. Re:Shouldn't that be... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

      Scientific scribblings should seldom sport sundry syllables.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:Shouldn't that be... by kruach+aum · · Score: 3, Funny

      Mystery of Missing Martian Methane May Mean More Mars Missions.

    4. Re:Shouldn't that be... by Professr3 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Missing Martian Methane Mystery May Mean More Mars Missions - FTFY

  2. What mystery? by pla · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In order for the mystery to deepen, we would first need to have a mystery, even a shallow(?) one. But what do we have here? A complete lack of a mystery.

    Yes, life can produce methane. Yes, some geological processes can produce methane. Mars has neither... So?

    I have a complete lack of Siberian tigers in my basement. That doesn't count as a mystery, deep or otherwise.

    1. Re:What mystery? by LateArthurDent · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yes, life can produce methane. Yes, some geological processes can produce methane. Mars has neither... So?

      Well, that's the thing. Mars does have methane, we've detected it before. So the mystery is, what happened to the previously detected methane plumes? Why did they disappear?

      So now not only do we not know what produced the methane in mars, we additionally don't know why it's no longer doing so. Mystery deepened.

    2. Re:What mystery? by edjs · · Score: 5, Informative

      Some plumes of methane were detected by Mars orbiters and terrestrial telescopes 10 years ago, thus the expectation of the rover detecting the methane.

      http://www.space.com/6319-mars-methane-geology-biology.html

    3. Re:What mystery? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      But dude, I put my collection of Siberian tigers in your basement last night. Their cages were damaged and I had to put them somewhere while they are fixed. The fact that they are no longer down there is going to change from a mystery to a tragedy really quick.

    4. Re:What mystery? by Professr3 · · Score: 4, Funny

      In other news, the Martian EPA celebrated its 7th anniversary and declared victory over methane pollution...

    5. Re:What mystery? by Patch86 · · Score: 5, Informative

      There has been plenty of indication that there was methane on Mars, which was an exciting prospect. Quoth the wiki:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars#Atmosphere

      In short, orbiters such as the Mars Express detected methane. Methane only has an atmospheric life of a few years, which means if the orbiter detected it then something must be releasing it right now. The amount detected was more than could have been expected from non-living sources, which makes it an indication of life.

      If we now can't detect it, that means either all our previous detections were wrong, or the methane has disappeared. Or, of course, that the rover isn't detecting it even though it is still there somewhere. All of which raises more questions than answers. Hence "mystery".

  3. only a mystery... by mschaffer · · Score: 2

    It's only a mystery to those who assumed it should be there. After all, we all know life started on mars, hitched a ride on an asteroid, only to land on earth.

    So much for Occam's razor.

  4. Bad Science doesnt go away. by kartaron · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It begins with Christopher Webster stating in no uncertain terms, this is the way things are and there isnt any methane to be found. His statements clearly hint toward doubt of the earlier measurements ..."the plumes were already hard to explain" Only to be contradicted later by Michael Mummy saying "I found them and they were really there... it must be a currently unknown 'process' that destroys methane at something near 100 times the currently accepted natural rate." (summary) Hilariously, the author combines the competing opinions without directly acknowledging the disagreement. Bad science doesnt go away, It circles around itself and refuses to admit flaws.

  5. That would not be a problem by abednegoyulo · · Score: 2

    If they sent Curiosity to Uranus