News NASA Mars Rover Finds Mineral Vein Deposited by Water

[blane]

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found bright veins of a mineral, apparently gypsum, deposited by water. Analysis of the vein will help improve understanding of the history of wet environments on Mars.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-377&rn=news.xml&rst=3220

 

[mojoey]

say WHAT?! We can guess that there is/was water on Mars due to the two GINORMOUS ice caps. If we do find life on Mars, im hoping its not those little bugs from that Val Kilmer movie...if it is the people who make Raid are in for the order of their life
I'd like to see a rover explore the ice caps, not some craters and valleys. While helpful, this particular part has run its course

 

[zerofay32]

Most of the "Ice Caps" on mars are made up of frozen CO2, not water ice.

 

[T.Neo]

Most of the "Ice Caps" on mars are made up of frozen CO2, not water ice.

The permanent caps are made of water ice (only the southern cap maintains a CO2 covering during local summer), but CO2 deposits form each winter.

 

[Ark]

Gypsum? Awesome, the first Mars colony won't have to import their drywall.

Just the 2x4s.

 

[Donamy]

I just hope someone doesn't comes up with a theory, on why Mars lost it's water. We might have a new frenzy Earth to deal with, "Global de-hydration".

 

[Ark]

I just hope someone doesn't comes up with a theory, on why Mars lost it's water. We might have a new frenzy Earth to deal with, "Global de-hydration".

It's kind of interesting that both of our closest neighbors appear to have had large amounts of water in the past. It's as if all 3 formed with similar composition and conditions, but Venus turned into a runaway greenhouse and Mars dried up and froze.

 

[Pyromaniac605]

It's kind of interesting that both of our closest neighbors appear to have had large amounts of water in the past. It's as if all 3 formed with similar composition and conditions, but Venus turned into a runaway greenhouse and Mars dried up and froze.

Both of them showing us what could happen to Earth if we aren't careful.

 

[Ark]

Both of them showing us what could happen to Earth if we aren't careful.

Even without our influence, Earth's climate has proven to be anything but stable. Just look at the extinction pulses throughout history from ice ages, impacts, and seismic activity. Even though we haven't had a permanent, planetwide sterilization like Venus and Mars, Earth has flirted with near-lifelessness in the past.

The last thing we should be doing is helping the planet kill us, it's already proven very effective at exterminating life.

 

[T.Neo]

Earth has flirted with near-lifelessness in the past.

Not really, even the most severe mass extinctions came nowhere near completely sterilising the planet. Many species may die off, but life as a whole is very resilient, and if anything it's a surprise that Earth's environment has stayed stable enough throughout history to allow for its continued existence.

 

[Jarvitä]

It's kind of interesting that both of our closest neighbors appear to have had large amounts of water in the past. It's as if all 3 formed with similar composition and conditions, but Venus turned into a runaway greenhouse and Mars dried up and froze.

Yeah, it's as if all three formed with similar composition and condition, but the solar radiation each receives is in accordance with the inverse square law.

 

[N_Molson]

:hesaid:

It's kind of interesting that both of our closest neighbors appear to have had large amounts of water in the past. It's as if all 3 formed with similar composition and conditions, but Venus turned into a runaway greenhouse and Mars dried up and froze.

That seems pretty logical : Venus is a little too near of the Sun, Mars is a little too far, Earth is on the perfect spot (where you can have the 3 states of water).

Also notice that Mars gravitational field is much weaker than Earth or Venus, making more difficult to retain a dense atmosphere :

Venus escape vel. : 10.300 m/s
Earth escape vel. : 11.200 m/s
Mars escape vel. : 5.000 m/s

 

[T.Neo]

Yeah, it's as if all three formed with similar composition and condition, but the solar radiation each receives is in accordance with the inverse square law.

Of course, the fact that Mars is further away from the Sun makes it more liable to lose its atmosphere... :uhh:

There are a multitude of factors involved that caused all three planets to evolve differently.

 

[RisingFury]

I just hope someone doesn't comes up with a theory, on why Mars lost it's water. We might have a new frenzy Earth to deal with, "Global de-hydration".

Most likely thing is that a giant impact stripped the atmosphere. Mars shows quite a few large impacts in its time. Without atmosphere, water cannot stay in liquid form. It could have either escaped to space or sunk underground.

 

[Cras]

One sensible theory on Mars' thin atmosphere was that it lacks the nice iron core that Earth has, thus it had a relatively weak magnetic field, and the solar winds were able to blow it away. Of course a giant impact or two would certainly help in the process.

 

[n72.75]

No, no, no, It's them water stealing aliens.

 

[JEL]

No, no, no, It's them water stealing aliens.

They exist! Here's the shaking video to prove it:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-YZ8WOU1-w"]The Ice Pirates (1984) Trailer - YouTube[/ame]

---------- Post added Dec 12th, 2011 at 00:17 ---------- Previous post was Dec 11th, 2011 at 23:44 ----------

There are a multitude of factors involved that caused all three planets to evolve differently.

I to would be cautious about saying the environments on venus and mars and earth are simply the results of their distance to the sun.

And even cautious about putting too much weight on the so-called habitable zone.

If the following has any merit then I think life (as we know it) could possibly exist in a broad range of distances from the local sun(s):

"If Volcanoes Plus Oceans Can Support Life at the Vents, Why Not on Other Planetary Bodies?"

Some scientists speculate that to maintain a liquid water body on a frigid satellite that is slightly smaller in diameter than the earth’s moon, Europa, like its neighbor Io, may harbor volcanic activity within. In Roman mythology, Jupiter, king of the gods, and the maiden Europa conducted a torrid affair. In a modern scientific parallel, the tidal relationship between the huge planet and its diminutive moon creates significant heat. Jupiter’s enormous gravitational embrace, combined with the resonant interplay of nearby satellites, alternately squeezes and stretches Europa, generating internal friction and possible volcanism, as it clearly does on Io. The possibility of a planetary body hosting both an ocean and submarine volcanoes makes similar systems on the earth useful analogs for searching for life elsewhere in the universe.