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...NASA: Mars Soil Sample Discovery is "...one for the history books"!!!



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 21st 12, 01:55 AM posted to sci.space.policy,sci.space.history,sci.astro,alt.philosophy
Jonathan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 278
Default ...NASA: Mars Soil Sample Discovery is "...one for the history books"!!!


Mars Rover Makes Discovery For "the History Books,"
but NASA Is Keeping It a Secret For Now
By Josh Voorhees
Posted Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012, at 3:02 PM ET


"This data is gonna be one for the history books," John Grotzinger,
the rover mission's principal investigator, told NPR last week
for a the buzz-inciting segment that aired today. "It's looking
really good."

What we do know is that the data comes from a soil sample
analyzed by the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars instrument,
an on-board lab known as SAM, so if the data holds up to
further testing it appears possible, and perhaps likely, that it
is a discovery of an element on Mars previously thought not
to exist on the Red Planet. Of course, the reason that NASA
is keeping the potential find (mostly) under wraps is because
it may turn out to be nothing but a false alarm, something
that's happened before to the mission. NPR explains:"

"So why doesn't Grotzinger want to share his exciting news?
The main reason is caution. Grotzinger and his team were
almost stung once before. When SAM analyzed an air
sample, it looked like there was methane in it, and at least
here on Earth, some methane comes from living organisms.
But Grotzinger says they held up announcing the finding
because they wanted to be sure they were measuring Martian
air, and not air brought along from the rover's launchpad
at Cape Canaveral.

"We knew from the very beginning that we had this risk of
having brought air from Florida. And we needed to diminish it
and then make the measurement again," he says. And when
they made the measurement again, the signs of methane
disappeared.

But the simple fact Grotzinger is willing to talk so openly
(and excitedly) about the possible discovery in light of the past
let downs would seem to suggest he has a good deal of confidence
that it will hold up to further testing.

No word on exactly how long it will take before we learn
more, but Grotzinger told NPR that it will likely take
"several weeks" before he and his team are ready to go public.
Until then, feel free to take to the comments with your best
(or worst) guesses.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slate...discovery.html



Well I'll guess, organic material?

It's very exciting that the very ...first soil sample yields a
big discovery. The rover is in an ancient Mars riverbed.

Curiosity Finds Ancient Riverbed in Martian Crater
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Curio...r-295298.shtml

Here's the pics of the soil sample site.

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars rover Curiosity
has ingested its first solid sample into an analytical instrument
inside the rover, a capability at the core of the
two-year mission.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ms...l20121018.html


Close-up of scoop site, a crusted over dune
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-ima...000E1_DXXX.jpg

Magnified close up of scoop site showing sphere crusted dune
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multime...00R0_DXXX&s=67




Jonathan







  #2  
Old November 21st 12, 04:04 AM posted to sci.space.policy,sci.space.history,sci.astro,alt.philosophy
Brad Guth[_3_]
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Posts: 15,175
Default ...NASA: Mars Soil Sample Discovery is "...one for the history books"!!!

On Nov 20, 4:55*pm, "jonathan" wrote:
Mars Rover Makes Discovery For "the History Books,"
but NASA Is Keeping It a Secret For Now
By Josh Voorhees
Posted Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012, at 3:02 PM ET

"This data is gonna be one for the history books," John Grotzinger,
the rover mission's principal investigator, told NPR last week
for a the buzz-inciting segment that aired today. "It's looking
really good."

What we do know is that the data comes from a soil sample
analyzed by the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars instrument,
an on-board lab known as SAM, so if the data holds up to
further testing it appears possible, and perhaps likely, that it
is a discovery of an element on Mars previously thought not
to exist on the Red Planet. Of course, the reason that NASA
is keeping the potential find (mostly) under wraps is because
it may turn out to be nothing but a false alarm, something
that's happened before to the mission. NPR explains:"

"So why doesn't Grotzinger want to share his exciting news?
The main reason is caution. Grotzinger and his team were
almost stung once before. When SAM analyzed an air
sample, it looked like there was methane in it, and at least
here on Earth, some methane comes from living organisms.
But Grotzinger says they held up announcing the finding
because they wanted to be sure they were measuring Martian
air, and not air brought along from the rover's launchpad
at Cape Canaveral.

"We knew from the very beginning that we had this risk of
having brought air from Florida. And we needed to diminish it
and then make the measurement again," he says. And when
they made the measurement again, the signs of methane
disappeared.

But the simple fact Grotzinger is willing to talk so openly
(and excitedly) about the possible discovery in light of the past
let downs would seem to suggest he has a good deal of confidence
that it will hold up to further testing.

No word on exactly how long it will take before we learn
more, but Grotzinger told NPR that it will likely take
"several weeks" before he and his team are ready to go public.
Until then, feel free to take to the comments with your best
(or worst) guesses.http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slate...discovery_nasa...

Well I'll guess, organic material?

It's very exciting that the very ...first soil sample yields a
big discovery. The rover is in an ancient Mars riverbed.

Curiosity Finds Ancient Riverbed in Martian Craterhttp://news.softpedia.com/news/Curiosity-Finds-Ancient-Riverbed-in-Ma...

Here's the pics of the soil sample site.

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars rover Curiosity
has ingested *its first solid sample into an analytical instrument
inside the rover, a capability at the core of the
two-year mission.http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ms...l20121018.html

Close-up of scoop site, a crusted over dunehttp://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00069/mcam/0069MR0419001...

Magnified close up of scoop site showing sphere crusted dunehttp://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=0067MH0008000000R0...

Jonathan


Looks damp, as though clumping or molecular binding, though little if
any salts.

Why don't they simply give us the raw spectrometer and radiation
numbers?
 




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