Water
I’ll have to read more about this later.
h/t Michael Habib
Originally shared by NASA
Liquid water flows on present-day Mars! Researchers using our Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious dark streaks are seen on the Red Planet. Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow, with enough water wicking to the surface to explain the darkening. This is a significant science discovery on our quest to send humans on a #JourneyToMars. Details: http://go.nasa.gov/1Lh2IvA
September 28, 2015
WOW!
September 28, 2015
PointMan #1 IN, I’m sorry I don’t speak crazy talk. Can you try to explain that again?
September 29, 2015
Aaaah!
September 29, 2015
PointMan #1 IN, playing with crayons like you do all day would have been refreshing. I started my day by imaging novel vascular grafts seeded with huvec cells to prevent stenosis. I spent my afternoon analyzing glioblastoma data. So crayons would have been a nice break. Reading your gibberish is not.
September 29, 2015
Chad Haney The press briefing this morning was pretty good (although almost an hour long):
Here are some highlights:
13:07 – Map showing previously known locations of RSL (recurring slope lineae).
15:03 – Commentary on seeing RSL in martian summers in the southern hemisphere, spring in the northern hemisphere, and at the equator year-round.
15:48 – Discussion of spectroscopy data from CRISM instrument on MRO (graph at 18:04).
21:38 – Image showing freezing and boiling points of liquid water on Mars without and with perchlorate salts.
23:00 – Current favored theory on RSL formation – hygroscopic perchlorates that facilitate deliquescence (the process of absorbing atmospheric water vapor or near-surface moisture until the hydrated salts basically coalesce into a solution).
24:13 – Map of Mars indicating where perchlorates have been discovered so far (8 main locations).
26:40 – Start of Q&A – Topics: the likelihood of life on Mars; next steps, including studying other potential sources for the water; Mars budget and timeline for future missions — NASA’s InSight & ESA’s ExoMars in 2016, upcoming rovers in 2018 and 2020; practical uses for water/perchlorates in the context of human Mars exploration; concerns with planetary protection and potential contamination with microbes from Earth; future ability to support crops/plants; speculation on subsurface freshwater glaciers on Mars at higher latitudes (yet to be confirmed); whether Mars could have a hydrological cycle like Earth; and context/perspective for how much water is estimated to be on Mars.
There was also a Reddit AMA:
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3mq1wl/were_nasa_mars_scientists_ask_us_anything_about/
September 29, 2015
Johnathan Chung, I saw the AMA announcement on Twitter.
September 29, 2015
Chad Haney I think most questions on Reddit were similar to the ones asked in the press briefing (although some AMA answers were a tad bit more specific), so you could probably skip the end of the video if you do end up checking it out.
September 29, 2015
stop feeding the trolls.
September 29, 2015
Bill Carter, this is no ordinary troll. This be a Ranger Danger troll.
September 29, 2015
PointMan #1 IN, what do you design at Ford, the cup holders?
September 29, 2015
PointMan #1 IN 12 years with 1 unit. In an 11 year long career.
October 9, 2015
It is so good