|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Is Rover mission redundant?
A few days ago I listened to an NPR news broadcast that stated the
reason for the Mars Rover mission is to search for water. Why? Is not water an established discovery on Mars via data from the current Mars Orbiter? Is the Rover mission just to confirm this discovery? eof |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Is Rover mission redundant?
"Rob Mohr" wrote:
A few days ago I listened to an NPR news broadcast that stated the reason for the Mars Rover mission is to search for water. Why? Is not water an established discovery on Mars via data from the current Mars Orbiter? Is the Rover mission just to confirm this discovery? It's not really accurate to say the rovers are "searching for water". We've known there's been water on Mars for quite some time. What they are looking for is rather the details of Mars' history, and that includes especially the history of Martian water. How much there was, what form it was in when, and for how long, and how often, etc. Marvin and Daffy are geologists, and one of the key things they are looking to find out is telltale signature in rocks and whatnot of the presence of water in various forms throughout Mars' history. Pathfinder, for example, gave some tantalizing evidence that Mars may contain aggregate rocks, formed from pebbles joined together in a matrix through a process that requires water. That sort of thing, among much else, would be excellent evidence that Mars did not just have a lot of H2O, nor just that it had a lot of liquid water for brief periods, but that it had *liquid* water for considerable durations (obviously, geological timeperiod durations). And that sort of information goes straight to the question of the possibility of life on Mars. Because a Mars with long-lasting oceans and lakes is, so far as we understand currently, a Mars with a much higher chance of having supported life. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Is Rover mission redundant?
On 8 Jul 2003 12:38:16 -0700, (Rob Mohr) wrote:
Is not water an established discovery on Mars via data from the current Mars Orbiter? Is the Rover mission just to confirm this discovery? ....The hydrogen detected could be from a totally unknown source, and not just from trapped subsurface ice. The only way to prove there's water down there is to *go* there and dig for it. Which is why I wish Buddy Ebsen had been an Astronaut, and we'd sent him to Mars with a dog and a huntin' rifle... OM -- "No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society - General George S. Patton, Jr |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Is Rover mission redundant?
Christopher M. Jones wrote:
Except for right at the polar caps those subsurface deposits are a few meters down. It would require some moderately substantial drilling to get to them. Bear in mind that the detection depth of the two neutron detector systems in Odyssey's GRS suite is ~1 m. The greatest %/wt of the "permafrost" detected to date is within this range, excluding of course the hypothesized hydrous minerals that are believed to be the source of the signal at near-equatorial latitudes. At any rate, while it is probable that a much greater volume of ice lies below the 1 m level, viz., the subsurface "iceberg," it would not really require "moderately substantial drilling" to access the uppermost portion. -- Alex R. Blackwell University of Hawaii |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Is Rover mission redundant?
Who cares if there is water. The future is already written.
Revelations talks about the "End" and mankind will still be mostly on the Earth(if not entirely). |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Is Rover mission redundant?
Littlemac558 wrote:
Who cares if there is water. We do. Both for tis own sake, and what it implies for life there. (Native Martian life, and eventually, ourselves.) The future is already written. Free will (presumably God-given) and fate would seem mutually exclusive. But I don't intend to do a philosophical debate here. Revelations talks about the "End" and mankind will still be mostly on the Earth(if not entirely). Um, note that the 'sci' in the name of this newsgroup is short for 'science.' Can your claim be falsified in any way? If not, this would not seem to be the place for it. Plenty of religous newsgroups out there.... |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Is Rover mission redundant?
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Successful European DELTA mission concludes with Soyuz landing | Jacques van Oene | Space Station | 0 | May 1st 04 12:25 PM |
International Student Team Selected to Work in Mars Rover Mission Operations | Ron Baalke | Science | 0 | November 7th 03 05:55 PM |
NASA Selects Explorer Mission Proposals For Feasibility Studies | Ron Baalke | Science | 0 | November 4th 03 10:14 PM |
Booster Crossing | Chuck Stewart | Space Shuttle | 124 | September 15th 03 12:43 AM |
NASA Selects UA 'Phoenix' Mission To Mars | Ron Baalke | Science | 0 | August 4th 03 10:48 PM |