Author Topic: NASA News Briefing On MRO Find - Evidence suggests water currently on Mars  (Read 36082 times)

Offline Robotbeat

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NASA Announces News Briefing On Mars Orbiter Science Finding
 
 
Science Journal Has Embargoed Details Until 2 p.m. EDT on Aug. 4

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a news briefing on Thursday, Aug. 4, at 2 p.m. EDT about a significant new Mars science finding. The briefing will be held in the NASA Headquarters James E. Webb Auditorium, 300 E St. SW in Washington.

The new finding is based on observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2006. MRO is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

The briefing panelists are:
- Philip Christensen, geophysicist, Arizona State University, Tempe
- Colin Dundas, research geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz.
- Alfred McEwen, planetary geologist, University of Arizona, Tucson
- Michael Meyer, Mars Exploration Program lead scientist, NASA Headquarters
- Lisa Pratt, biogeochemist, Indiana University, Bloomington

Reporters unable to attend in person may ask questions from participating NASA centers or by telephone. To participate by phone, reporters must contact Grey Hautaluoma at 202-358-0668 or [email protected] by 11 a.m. on Aug. 4.

The news briefing will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/ntv


The event also will be carried live on Ustream, with a live chat box available, at:

http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2
Information comes out of embargo in about 20 minutes.

Someone (actually, someone who is actually a member here, too) suggests it has something to do with gullies:
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=7032
« Last Edit: 08/04/2011 08:50 pm by Chris Bergin »
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Offline Robotbeat

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/news/mro20110804.html
Quote
PASADENA, Calif. -- Observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars.

"NASA's Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, “and it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration."

Dark, finger-like features appear and extend down some Martian slopes during late spring through summer, fade in winter, and return during the next spring. Repeated observations have tracked the seasonal changes in these recurring features on several steep slopes in the middle latitudes of Mars' southern hemisphere.

"The best explanation for these observations so far is the flow of briny water," said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson. McEwen is the principal investigator for the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and lead author of a report about the recurring flows published in Thursday's edition of the journal Science....

CURRENT water, not just ancient!

"Repeated, predictable water on Mars."
« Last Edit: 08/04/2011 06:49 pm by Robotbeat »
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Offline Robotbeat

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Live, now....
http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2

"Only seen at mid-latitudes, warm temperatures... they fade... implies volatiles (i.e. liquids)" "repeat every year"

comes from bedrock...

"far too warm for carbon dioxide frost"

"these are found at -10F to +80F"

Guys this is awesome!
« Last Edit: 08/04/2011 06:49 pm by Robotbeat »
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Offline Robotbeat

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"pure water would boil" "salt water probably wouldn't boil... would evaporate"

So, everything said they found briny water.
« Last Edit: 08/04/2011 06:49 pm by Robotbeat »
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Offline Bill White

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". . . comes from bedrock . . ." strikes me as very significant.

There could be considerably more water underground. 

EML architectures should be seen as ratchet opportunities

Offline Namechange User

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Cool! 

So we have pretty much confirmed ice on the Moon.  We now believe we have liquid water on Mars to some extent.

Yet, in twenty years we are going to "touch an asteroid" because the Moon is "been there, done that" and *eventually* land on Mars. 
Enjoying viewing the forum a little better now by filtering certain users.

Offline Avariel

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This is very cool! We really do need to go for a walk up there.

Offline Robotbeat

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Here's where they found these flows:
It appears these briny water flows happen near salt deposits, which makes sense:
« Last Edit: 08/04/2011 06:50 pm by Robotbeat »
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Offline Ben the Space Brit

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"Repeated, predictable water on Mars."

This is the most important headline in space science since the discovery of water ice at the lunar poles.  It means that it is possible that there is life on Mars and it means that it is possible that Mars can be made habitable for humans.

Has anyone ever seen pictures of Elon's proposed retirement villa? ;)
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Offline Robotbeat

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This seems to be connected to some possible (biological) habitats on Mars:
http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2
Chris  Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

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Offline Herb Schaltegger

This is a very significant finding.
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Offline Alpha Control

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Incredible news!

Space launches attended:
Antares/Cygnus ORB-D1 Wallops Island, VA Sept 2013 | STS-123 KSC, FL March 2008 | SpaceShipOne Mojave, CA June 2004

Online robertross

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Super fantastic!

Offline rdale

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Pardon my bad memory and inability to watch the presser - but didn't they conclude a few years ago that the rockslides were caused by water getting to the surface?

Online Blackstar

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Everybody needs to take a deep breath and calm down.

"Suggestive of liquid water..."

Remember that the scientific process requires that other people look at the data and the theories and respond.

That said, I know several of the scientists involved in this, and they are top-notch and careful researchers. They too will acknowledge that other people need to look at their results. (Heck, I was in a room with McEwen several years ago when somebody was discussing a brand new paper that suggested they had spotted a water outflow on Mars. McEwen said that he really doubted that finding, and a few months later he published a paper with a different theory for the observed results.)

Online Blackstar

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Pardon my bad memory and inability to watch the presser - but didn't they conclude a few years ago that the rockslides were caused by water getting to the surface?

No. They did not conclude that. Somebody suggested that. McEwen later published a paper that reached a different conclusion.
« Last Edit: 08/04/2011 06:33 pm by Blackstar »

Offline joek

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Very cool!

Anyone know offhand if any candidate MSL sites are near those locations?

Offline rklaehn

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Very cool!

Anyone know offhand if any candidate MSL sites are near those locations?

They said that MSL would not be allowed to look at it because of fear of contamination.

Offline Robotbeat

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Blackstar:
Yeah, CRISM hasn't seen it, yet. But CRISM also has pretty low resolution to be able to see this. They're going to try using a super-resolution mode (well, superresolution in one dimension), along with taking a look at different seasons, etc, and differencing them to see if they can tease out the small water signature.

But it certainly looks and acts a lot like briny water, and it's not CO2 frost (much too warm), and it happens in areas with salt deposits and at temperatures where briny water would be liquid, and we know there's significant amounts of subsurface water ice. All the ingredients are there.

It also doesn't have the same characteristics as dust avalanches (which aren't really as seasonal as this), and this only happens at mid-latitudes. None of the alternate explanations fit.

Seriously, it's not exactly the same as other previous announcements which had a lot less reason for confidence.
« Last Edit: 08/04/2011 06:38 pm by Robotbeat »
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Offline ugordan

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Geez, what's with the bombastic headline? Liquid water wasn't "found" on Mars, tentative evidence for it *was*. Big difference.

Cue in mass media misreporting again...
« Last Edit: 08/04/2011 06:37 pm by ugordan »

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