http://www.marsnews.com/ en-us tourdemars@marsnews.com Copyright 2009 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:45:17 -0800 Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:02:04 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.2 tourdemars@marsnews.com 60 Some pesky scientists have just pointed out an appalling design error in NASA’s latest attempts to find life on Mars. This is beginning to look like a conspiracy. Does someone not want us to find life on Mars? NASA has tried looking for signs of life on Mars precisely once, in the 1976 Viking mission. The result was positive. The reason nobody says there is life on Mars is that another experiment, part of the same mission, couldn’t find any carbon-based “organic” chemicals in Martian soil. This, NASA decided, overruled the other result: with no carbon present, there could be no microbes living on or under the surface of Mars. Last year, the Phoenix lander repeated the carbon search and failed to find organic molecules. The problem is, we know that there ought to be organic molecules on Mars. Asteroid and comet impacts will have put them there. So what’s going on? Both of the searches for organic molecules, it turns out, have been deeply flawed. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2009/06/11/is_there_a_life_on_mars_conspiracy.html Life on Mars Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:45:17 -0800 team of NASA and university scientists has achieved the first definitive detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars. This discovery indicates the planet is either biologically or geologically active. The team found methane in the Martian atmosphere by carefully observing the planet throughout several Mars years with NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility and the W.M. Keck telescope, both at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The team used spectrometers on the telescopes to spread the light into its component colors, as a prism separates white light into a rainbow. The team detected three spectral features called absorption lines that together are a definitive signature of methane. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2009/01/15/discovery_of_methane_reveals_mars_is_not_a_dead_planet.html Life on Mars Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:08:52 -0800 ALIEN microbes living just below the Martian soil are responsible for a haze of methane around the Red Planet, Nasa scientists believe. The gas, belched in vast quantities in our world by cows, was detected by orbiting spacecraft and from Earth using giant telescopes. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2009/01/14/life_on_mars_nasas_historic_discovery_of_methane_on_mars.html Life on Mars Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:21:14 -0800 Nasa scientists have detected "plumes" of methane on Mars, possibly indicating organic activity on the Red Planet. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2009/01/14/mars_methane_discovery_hints_at_presence_of_life.html Life on Mars Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:17:39 -0800 Planetary scientists at NASA's Goddard Flight Center claim to have identified hotspots of methane gas emission, extremely localized plumes whose concentration fades quickly in time. An atmosphere-wide distribution that's stable in time would indicate a balance between geological sources and destruction by sunlight. Localized sources, however, suggest much more active sources. What's the best source of methane most people know about? Cows. That's unlikely on Mars. But backing off a level, the important factor is LIFE. NASA team leader Michael Mumma puts forward the idea that subterranean bacteria could be producing the noxious fumes, which periodically percolate to the surface in short lived bursts. But it could also be a geological source deep below the surface. The CH4 was identified spectroscopically, analyzing the exact wavelengths of the light emitted from certain regions over time. It's exactly the same strategy the astronomers of old used, "just looking at what color things are", but since we worked out (some) quantum mechanics the same light can tell us so much more. Unfortunately, it can't make the crucial distinction between life or rock-based gas. But if we can just get a bit closer we can find out. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/11/11/has_mars_science_laboratory_made_the_discovery_of_the_decade.html Life on Mars Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:02:26 -0800 A bug discovered deep in a goldmine and nicknamed "the bold traveller" has got astrobiologists buzzing with excitement. Its unique ability to live in complete isolation of any other living species suggests it could be the key to life on other planets. A community of the bacteria Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator has been discovered 2.8 kilometres beneath the surface of the Earth in fluid-filled cracks of the Mponeng goldmine in South Africa. Its 60°C home is completely isolated from the rest of the world, and devoid of light and oxygen. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/10/10/goldmine_bug_dna_may_be_key_to_alien_life.html Life on Mars Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:44:14 -0800 If life on Mars exists, it may dwell in a violent home. The Red Planet is no stranger to fiery volcanic eruptions: It is home to the solar system's largest volcano, Olympus Mons. The planet is also well-endowed with ice, which has collected in large sheets near its north and south poles. Yet a key ingredient for life as we know it -- liquid water -- remains elusive. But what if fire met ice in the Martian north? On Earth, volcanoes sometimes erupt beneath glaciers, melting huge quantities of water and spawning massive floods. Lakes of meltwater are sometimes pinned at the bottoms of glaciers. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/09/06/on_mars_does_fire_plus_ice_equal_life.html Life on Mars Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:33:31 -0800 The unanticipated discovery of a mineral in Mars’ arctic soil doesn’t rule out the possibility that the red planet could support life, scientists with the Phoenix lander said today. While cautioning that the discovery of perchlorate, an oxidizing agent found in rocket fuel, still had to be confirmed by more experiments, scientists with the UA-led Phoenix Mars Mission rejected speculation that the mineral’s presence killed the possibility of life on the planet. “These compounds are quite stable and don’t destroy organic compounds,” said Peter Smith, the UA’s lead scientist for the mission. “This is an important piece in the puzzle and it is neither good nor bad for life.” While perchlorate can be hazardous to some life forms on Earth, others use the molecules for life, including in remote arid desert regions. “The interesting thing is perchlorate is a relatively inert oxidant,” said Richard Quinn, a mission scientist. “There are some microbes that use it as an energy source.” http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/08/05/scientists_debate_the_meaning_of_mineral_found_on_mars.html Phoenix Lander Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:00:26 -0800 NASA's Phoenix lander has discovered a toxic chemical in soil near Mars' north pole, dimming hopes for finding life on the Red Planet, the probe's operators said Monday. The chemical, perchlorate, is an oxidant widely used in solid rocket fuel. Researchers are still puzzling over the results and checking to make sure the perchlorate wasn't carried to Mars from Earth, the University of Arizona-based science team said. "While we have not completed our process on these soil samples, we have very interesting intermediate results," Peter Smith, the principal investigator for the project, said in a written statement. Early readings from a device aboard Phoenix called the Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer, or MECA, "suggested Earth-like soil," Smith said. "Further analysis has revealed un-Earthlike aspects of the soil chemistry," he said. The Phoenix team has scheduled a teleconference for Tuesday to discuss the findings. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/08/05/toxin_in_soil_may_mean_no_life_on_mars.html Phoenix Lander Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:08:51 -0800 Could the Mars Phoenix lander have been contaminated by bacteria from Earth? The possibility was raised by rumor-multipliers feasting on an Aviation Week report that the White House had been briefed on "major new Phoenix lander discoveries concerning the 'potential for life' on Mars." The report has since been retracted, but it raised the prospect, if only wildly, that the Phoenix found Martian soil so habitable because transplanted microbes flourished there. But that, say researchers, is highly unlikely. Mars explorers have a profound self-interest in ensuring that bacterial hitchhikers don't confound their results: imagine asking for NASA funding after claiming a plucky strain of underarm bacteria as extraterrestrial life. And if Earthly bacteria survives a trip and then flourishes, it could upset an alien ecosystem -- the equivalent of finding something rare and priceless by stepping on it. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/08/05/the_dirt_on_mars_phoenix_lander_contamination.html Phoenix Lander Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:05:29 -0800 The White House has been alerted by NASA about plans to make an announcement soon on major new Phoenix lander discoveries concerning the "potential for life" on Mars, scientists tell Aviation Week & Space Technology. Sources say the new data do not indicate the discovery of existing or past life on Mars. Rather the data relate to habitability--the "potential" for Mars to support life--at the Phoenix arctic landing site, sources say. The data are much more complex than results related NASA's July 31 announcement that Phoenix has confirmed the presence of water ice at the site. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/08/04/white_house_briefed_on_potential_for_mars_life.html Life on Mars Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:23:38 -0800 Research on methane at a Mexican salt flat could help reveal the source of methane that has been detected in the atmosphere of Mars. But first scientists have to decipher the unique – and seemingly contradictory - isotopic signature of the Mexican methane. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/06/10/making_sense_of_mars_methane.html Life on Mars Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:08:12 -0800 The Phoenix lander may have been coated with dozens of species of bacteria when it left Earth – and some may be hardy enough to scrape by on Mars, two new studies suggest. But researchers say the parts of the lander that will contact water ice on Mars – which might provide a toehold for life – have been carefully sterilised, minimising the chances that terrestrial life could colonise the planet. NASA has long realised that spacecraft could potentially seed other planets with terrestrial life. To cut the chances of transporting microbes to space, probes such as Phoenix, which landed on the northern plains of Mars on 25 May, are now assembled in clean rooms ventilated with filtered air. NASA also swabs the craft to measure the levels of particularly hardy spore-forming bacteria, which can lay dormant for decades and withstand extreme temperatures. But the agency doesn't routinely check for less resilient bacteria or microbes that can't be cultured, since harsh ultraviolet radiation on Mars is thought to quickly kill most such organisms. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/06/06/could_microbes_on_phoenix_survive_on_mars.html Life on Mars Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:24:02 -0800 A lake that might once have been habitable may have filled a crater for a long time on early Mars, new spacecraft images reveal. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured the images that suggest the debris-strewn Holden Crater once held a calm body of water that could have harbored life. There is so far no convincing evidence life does or ever did exist on Mars, however. The crater debris includes a mix of broken boulders and smaller particles called megabreccia. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2008/03/09/oncehabitable_lake_found_on_mars.html Life on Mars Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:06:38 -0800 Nasa says its Mars rover Spirit has discovered "the best evidence yet" of a past habitable environment on the planet's surface. Spirit has been exploring a plateau called Home Plate, where it discovered silica-rich soil in May. Researchers are now trying to determine what produced the patch of nearly pure silica - the main ingredient of window glass. They believe the deposits came from an ancient hot-spring environment or an environment called a fumarole, in which acidic steam rises through cracks. On Earth, both of these types of settings teem with microbial life, said rover chief scientist Steve Squyres. http://www.marsnews.com/archives/2007/12/11/mars_rover_finds_signs_of_microbial_life.html Life on Mars Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:41:50 -0800