Why is life possible on mars?
NASA lands on Mars and discovers possible links to Martian life
Source: NASA Goddard Photo and Video via flickr
Caption: NASA celebrates its landing of Curiosity on Mars
Mars has canyons, which proves there was water at one time. You have to have water for canyons to form and H2O is essential for life, as far as we know. Also there is some evidence that there is ice on mars currently. Which means there is a possibly of life, because of the water. Its the only planet in our solar system that is known to ever have water and the correct temperature for life to survive and atmosprere is not poison, and it has a solid mass, opposed to a body of gas such as jupiter, which would burn anything that goes near it.
“We’re safe on Mars,” said Allen Chen, an engineer in the
NASA control room, inciting a room of ear-splitting cheers, hugs and
handshakes.
A sharp, silver object sitting atop Planet Mars, sparked the successfully landed NASA Curiosity’s own curiosity. The object is a mountain named Mount Sharp.
Mike Watkins, manager of the NASA Curiosity mission, said, “We have ended one phase of the mission much to our enjoyment,” adding, “But another part has just begun."
Mars’s Mount Sharp is approximately 3.4 miles taller than Mount Whitney in California, according to Fox News. The object appears to be related to Martian life.
Also according to Fox News, the NASA Curiosity project seeks hints of environmental history that the mountain could hold.
Photos were released showing the NASA Curiosity space vehicle during its land onto Mars, where the rover’s shadow is visible. The NASA rover landed in a parachute.
According to Fox News, precision in the landing’s photography was key, as was it difficult. Sarah Milkovich, HiRISE investigation scientist said, “If HiRISE took the image one second before or one second after, we probably would be looking at an empty Martian landscape.”
Due to this accomplished landing, the world’s questions of outer space have been turned towards NASA. According to The New York Times, the United States NASA now stands ahead of Russia, Europe and China, discarding its image of lagging.
Granted NASA Curiosity weighs one ton, mission crew did not want to risk using cushions or air bags for the landing. Rather, the mission entailed carefully placing the machine onto Mars from a separate rocket surface, lingering above.
This NASA mission consumed eight months, and Curiosity traveled 352 million miles before finally landing Sunday.
Photographed was “a new Mars we have never seen before,” as stated by Watkins. Watkins added, “So every one of those pictures is the most beautiful picture I have ever seen.”
Though no one knows when the next Mars landing will take place, NASA hopes that a discovery by Curiosity will inspire Congress and citizens to invest in further Martian investigation.
Carbonates hold carbon dioxide and can form readily in the presence of water, but have previously been found only in a few scattered locations on Mars. [Graphic: How Craters Expose Martian Underground]
IN PICTURES: Mars Spirit rover: What a long-range trip it's been
This first-time discovery of carbonates in an underground location points to a warmer epoch in the ancient Martian past with more atmospheric carbon dioxide, as well as ancient seas. The carbonates also turned up alongside silicate minerals and clays that suggest the presence of hydrothermal systems — similar to the deep sea vents on Earth.
"This discovery doesn't really hint at life, but it does reveal a very strong candidate for a habitable environment, perhaps the best discovered so far," said Paul Niles, a planetary geologist with the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The ancient rocks may date back as far as 3.5 or 4 billion years, according to Joseph Michalski, a planetary geologist at the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona. That means they don't necessarily reflect the Martian underground as it exists today, but they do point to processes which could make the Mars subsurface a habitable place.
Researchers have long looked to the underground environment in hopes of finding Martian life, because cold, dry conditions coupled with ultraviolet radiation on the surface of Mars makes existence up above unlikely.
"The subsurface environment provides a warm, stable environment that should be conducive for life to evolve given our limited understanding of that process," Niles said in an e-mail.
The research is detailed in the Oct. 10 issue of the journal Nature Geosciences.
The methane mystery
The findings may also prove a huge step toward solving the mystery of methane gas on Mars today. Such gas could originate from either methane-burping microbes or non-organic geological processes, but so far no signs of life have turned up as the culprit.
A recent study showed that methane disappears from Mars within less than a year — another sign that something must be constantly creating the methane on the red planet.
But now researchers may have a geological, rather than biological, answer.
Hydrothermal processes with warm liquid water can chemically interact with rocks in a way that produces methane, and the recent Leighton Crater study has laid out strong evidence of hydrothermal systems having at least existed on Mars.
A triumph of the geological explanation does not automatically rule out the chances for life, said Michalski, who coauthored the recent study with Niles. That's because hydrothermal systems would make the underground Martian environment an even more attractive-looking place for life to hide out.
"That is what's cool about Martian methane; it either formed organically or in an environment that's conducive to habitability," Michalski told SPACE.com.
Scratching the surface
Finding out more about the Martian underground has been difficult because of a volcanic upper crust that hides what lies beneath. The Leighton Crater itself sits just southwest of a giant dormant Martian volcano named Syrtis Major, between the northern lowlands and the southern highlands.
If researchers can find other craters that provide more windows into the underground scene, they could confirm a sneaking suspicion about carbonates being spread across a large region of Mars. Such minerals could prove invaluable for their record of water's history that dates back to the warmer, carbon dioxide-rich period of ancient Mars.
"The difficulty with Mars is we only see the surface layer for a long time [because of a lack of plate tectonics]," Michalski explained. "The best way to look at the deeper part of the crust is to look at impact craters several kilometers down."
Future robotic missions beyond the Mars Science Laboratory, NASA's SUV-sized rover slated to launch in 2011, could also target areas similar to the Leighton Crater so that they can study the chemical makeup of the rocks in detail.
Meanwhile, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's instruments — the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars and High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment — continue to pay off for
researchers more than five years since the probe launched.
"These missions are part of a big group effort," Michalski said. "Even though there are just two authors on the paper, we never want to give impression that we're working alone."
A sharp, silver object sitting atop Planet Mars, sparked the successfully landed NASA Curiosity’s own curiosity. The object is a mountain named Mount Sharp.
Mike Watkins, manager of the NASA Curiosity mission, said, “We have ended one phase of the mission much to our enjoyment,” adding, “But another part has just begun."
Mars’s Mount Sharp is approximately 3.4 miles taller than Mount Whitney in California, according to Fox News. The object appears to be related to Martian life.
Also according to Fox News, the NASA Curiosity project seeks hints of environmental history that the mountain could hold.
Photos were released showing the NASA Curiosity space vehicle during its land onto Mars, where the rover’s shadow is visible. The NASA rover landed in a parachute.
According to Fox News, precision in the landing’s photography was key, as was it difficult. Sarah Milkovich, HiRISE investigation scientist said, “If HiRISE took the image one second before or one second after, we probably would be looking at an empty Martian landscape.”
Due to this accomplished landing, the world’s questions of outer space have been turned towards NASA. According to The New York Times, the United States NASA now stands ahead of Russia, Europe and China, discarding its image of lagging.
Granted NASA Curiosity weighs one ton, mission crew did not want to risk using cushions or air bags for the landing. Rather, the mission entailed carefully placing the machine onto Mars from a separate rocket surface, lingering above.
This NASA mission consumed eight months, and Curiosity traveled 352 million miles before finally landing Sunday.
Photographed was “a new Mars we have never seen before,” as stated by Watkins. Watkins added, “So every one of those pictures is the most beautiful picture I have ever seen.”
Though no one knows when the next Mars landing will take place, NASA hopes that a discovery by Curiosity will inspire Congress and citizens to invest in further Martian investigation.
Mars may have been habitable underground, new research suggests
Evidence from an ancient meteor strike on Mars indicates the presence of liquid water at some point in the Red Planet's ancient past.
A
picture released by the European Space Agency on October 8 shows Melas
Chasma, a rift that sinks some five and a half miles below the
surrounding Martian plains. New research indicates that Mars may have
been habitable underground.
Newscom/File
An ancient meteor strike on Mars has revealed the first direct evidence of how warm liquid water may have shaped a habitable underground environment.
Images taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed the first carbonate rocks found inside Leighton Crater at a level that was once buried 4 miles (6 km) below the red planet's surface.Carbonates hold carbon dioxide and can form readily in the presence of water, but have previously been found only in a few scattered locations on Mars. [Graphic: How Craters Expose Martian Underground]
IN PICTURES: Mars Spirit rover: What a long-range trip it's been
This first-time discovery of carbonates in an underground location points to a warmer epoch in the ancient Martian past with more atmospheric carbon dioxide, as well as ancient seas. The carbonates also turned up alongside silicate minerals and clays that suggest the presence of hydrothermal systems — similar to the deep sea vents on Earth.
"This discovery doesn't really hint at life, but it does reveal a very strong candidate for a habitable environment, perhaps the best discovered so far," said Paul Niles, a planetary geologist with the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The ancient rocks may date back as far as 3.5 or 4 billion years, according to Joseph Michalski, a planetary geologist at the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona. That means they don't necessarily reflect the Martian underground as it exists today, but they do point to processes which could make the Mars subsurface a habitable place.
Researchers have long looked to the underground environment in hopes of finding Martian life, because cold, dry conditions coupled with ultraviolet radiation on the surface of Mars makes existence up above unlikely.
"The subsurface environment provides a warm, stable environment that should be conducive for life to evolve given our limited understanding of that process," Niles said in an e-mail.
The research is detailed in the Oct. 10 issue of the journal Nature Geosciences.
The methane mystery
The findings may also prove a huge step toward solving the mystery of methane gas on Mars today. Such gas could originate from either methane-burping microbes or non-organic geological processes, but so far no signs of life have turned up as the culprit.
A recent study showed that methane disappears from Mars within less than a year — another sign that something must be constantly creating the methane on the red planet.
But now researchers may have a geological, rather than biological, answer.
Hydrothermal processes with warm liquid water can chemically interact with rocks in a way that produces methane, and the recent Leighton Crater study has laid out strong evidence of hydrothermal systems having at least existed on Mars.
A triumph of the geological explanation does not automatically rule out the chances for life, said Michalski, who coauthored the recent study with Niles. That's because hydrothermal systems would make the underground Martian environment an even more attractive-looking place for life to hide out.
"That is what's cool about Martian methane; it either formed organically or in an environment that's conducive to habitability," Michalski told SPACE.com.
Scratching the surface
Finding out more about the Martian underground has been difficult because of a volcanic upper crust that hides what lies beneath. The Leighton Crater itself sits just southwest of a giant dormant Martian volcano named Syrtis Major, between the northern lowlands and the southern highlands.
If researchers can find other craters that provide more windows into the underground scene, they could confirm a sneaking suspicion about carbonates being spread across a large region of Mars. Such minerals could prove invaluable for their record of water's history that dates back to the warmer, carbon dioxide-rich period of ancient Mars.
"The difficulty with Mars is we only see the surface layer for a long time [because of a lack of plate tectonics]," Michalski explained. "The best way to look at the deeper part of the crust is to look at impact craters several kilometers down."
Future robotic missions beyond the Mars Science Laboratory, NASA's SUV-sized rover slated to launch in 2011, could also target areas similar to the Leighton Crater so that they can study the chemical makeup of the rocks in detail.
Meanwhile, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's instruments — the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars and High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment — continue to pay off for
"These missions are part of a big group effort," Michalski said. "Even though there are just two authors on the paper, we never want to give impression that we're working alone."
Discovery of Mars
Mars is much like Venus-- it's very bright and therefore easily spotted in the night sky. Because of this, we don't know who exactly discovered Mars. We do know it was named after the Roman god of war, because its reddish color reminded people of blood.In 1659, Christian Huygens discovered a strange feature on the surface of the Red Planet. It was later called the Syrtis Major. We have been scared of Martians ever since. In 1802, one scientist was so convinced there was life on Mars that he wanted to draw huge figures in the snow to signal the Martians!
In 1877, astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli discovered what he believed to be several lines crossing one another. He claimed they were water canals made by intelligent creatures.
In 1971, Mariner 9 visited Mars and sent back images of enormous volcanoes and vast canyons. It discovered Olympus Mons, now the most famous volcano not on Earth. This massive volcano could cover the state of Missouri, and reaches 15 miles above the surface! Mariner 9 also found evidence that water once flowed on Mars. However, there were no sightings of Schiaparelli's famous canals.
In 1975, two spacecraft named Viking I and II landed on Mars to study its surface. They analyzed the rocks and soil of the planet while providing us with information about its atmosphere and weather patterns. Even today we are exploring Mars. The Mars Global Surveyor made a map of the planet in 1997.
Although Mars was never really discovered, its moons were! In 1877, astronomer Asaph Hall spotted the two moons and named them Phobos, which means fear, and Deimos, which means panic. They were named after the mythical horses that drew the chariot of the Roman god, Mars.
This image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of NASA
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of NASA
This image shows a portion of the Martian terrain and the forward ramp of the Mars Pathfinder lander.
Click on image for full size
NASA
Click on image for full size
NASA
Related links:
The Exploration of MarsMars Pathfinder Image Archive
Mars Global Surveyor Image Archive
Mars Pathfinder homepage
Mars Global Surveyor homepage
The Mars Surveyor Program
Because of the failure of the Mars Observer (MO), NASA planned a new Mars Surveyor Program. The Surveyor Program was designed to explore all of the things the MO was suppose to, and a lot more. The Surveyor Program used cheaper spacecraft, and newer, more experimental engineering and design. Among the questions the Mars Surveyor Program was designed to answer was where is the Martian water? The program was suppose to consist of spacecraft that would be launched about every 26 months. The spacecraft were named: Mars Pathfinder, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars '98, Mars 2001, Mars 2003, and Mars 2005. The Pathfinder mission was a huge success. And the Mars Global Surveyor is still taking measurements. However, the Mars '98 Orbiter and Lander were lost. After this great loss, NASA saw a need to rethink Mars exploration. This concluded the Mars Surveyor Program. In 2000, a new Mars Exploration Program was announced. This new program includes the Mars Odyssey 2001 mission which was launched in April 2001. It also provides for five other major Mars missions in the next decade. NASA plans to launch twin rovers which will land on Mars in 2003 and a powerful scientific orbiter to be launched in 2005. A mobile science laboratory and the first of several smaller Scout missions are planned for 2007. Wrapping up this phase of exploration would be a sample return mission possibly as early as 2011. A sample return mission is where rocks and dirt would be brought back to Earth from the surface of Mars. Cool!
for furthur details http://www.windows2universe.org/mars/exploring/MSP_overview.html
