25 replies to this topic

[Waspie_Dwarf]

spud the mackem, on 09 October 2012 - 04:01 PM, said:

ok Oz,microbes or whatever,I wouldnt expect them to find a fossil, or some other Martian creature ,but to examine a crater blasted out long ago doesnt look right to me,because an impact would cause everything to be atomised by the heat generated, within that area,and nothing would be left alive or dead.So once they've convinced themselves that there's nothing there, they might move on to somewhere like a dry river bed,which could be more successfull.I would like to see something positive come out of this.

Actually the very reason they are in a crater is because it is a hole that has been blasted in the ground. If you want to look back in geological time you can not do it by looking at the top few centimetres of soil.

By examining the walls or central peak of the crater you can examine ancient rock layers and determine the conditions on Mars in the past.

Edited by Waspie_Dwarf, 09 October 2012 - 07:31 PM.

[Bavarian Raven]

Quote

  ok Oz,microbes or whatever,I wouldnt expect them to find a fossil, or some other Martian creature ,but to examine a crater blasted out long ago doesnt look right to me,because an impact would cause everything to be atomised by the heat generated, within that area,and nothing would be left alive or dead.So once they've convinced themselves that there's nothing there, they might move on to somewhere like a dry river bed,which could be more successfull.I would like to see something positive come out of this.

Actually, on impact craters on earth, they have found dead single-celled life preserved within the melted-sand turned glass... o.O so...it might not be the wrong place to look after all

Edited by Bavarian Raven, 09 October 2012 - 07:31 PM.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Subsonicjourno, on 09 October 2012 - 12:06 PM, said:

do they know what the shiny thing is yet?

www.nasa.gov said:

Object Likely Benign Plastic from Curiosity Rover
Tue, 09 Oct 2012 07:49:45 PM GMT

Curiosity's main activity in the 62nd sol of the mission (Oct. 8, 2012) was to image a small, bright object on the ground using the Remote Micro-Imager of the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument.

The rover team's assessment is that the bright object is something from the rover, not Martian material. It appears to be a shred of plastic material, likely benign, but it has not been definitively identified.

To proceed cautiously, the team is continuing the investigation for another day before deciding whether to resume processing of the sample in the scoop. Plans include imaging of surroundings with the Mastcam.

A sample of sand and dust scooped up on Sol 61 remains in the scoop. Plans to transfer it from the scoop into other chambers of the sample-processing device were postponed as a precaution during planning for Sol 62 after the small, bright object was detected in an image from the Mast Camera (Mastcam).

A Sol 62 raw image from ChemCam, at http://1.usa.gov/R1fZHt, shows the object in question just to left of center of the image.

Sol 62, in Mars local mean solar time at Gale Crater, will end at 12:23 a.m. Oct. 9, PDT (3:23 a.m., EDT).

Source

[sean6]

http://www.foxnews.c...n-surface-mars/

Edited by sean6, 09 October 2012 - 08:10 PM.

[MaddoxHQ]

I had my doubts on finding life in the crater myself.  Now I have other doubts.  If this crater is a supposed 3.5-3.8 BILLION years old..  after looking up a bunch of old craters on earth.  Anything that old is completely covered up due to wind and water erosion, and tectonic activity.  If we surmise the Martian crater is that old, we also have to guess that Mars has been pretty quiet for 3.5 years.  On earth 3.5 billion years ago, it was the Hadean time.  Heavy bombardment time, and since that was a system wide time, Mars was also heavily bombarded.  I think the chances of finding life are extremely small at this point.  And water on Mars?  It's there, but there never has been enough to do anything.  It had 3.5 billion years to fill a crater, something 50 MILLION years can do easily on Earth.

[Zeta Reticulum]

"Image credit: NASA


NASA's Curiosity rover has used its robotic arm to pick up a scoop of soil from the Martian surface.

It's the first time the rover has collected some of the soil, a video has also been released showing the sample being vibrated inside the scoop to determine its texture and to even off the amount collected. While the initial sample won't be used for analysis, NASA will later pick up another scoop of soil and deliver a small amount to the rover's on-board instruments.

Officials have also detected what appears to be a small bright object on the ground which could potentially be part of the rover itself. An investigation is being carried out to determine if something may have broken off before the mission continues.


Wonder what they will say if it is not something broken off curiosity ????

[tipotep]

Waspie_Dwarf, on 09 October 2012 - 08:12 AM, said:

They aren't going to return the samples. There is a reason why Curiosity is also known as the Mars Science Laboratory, it will analyse the samples itself.

Are you trying to confuse me or something

If they aren't going to return any samples to earth  why did you write ...

Quote

In the highly unlikely event that there is deadly bacteria on Mars wouldn't it be for the best if it was discovered now BEFORE we return samples to the Earth?

TiP.

[Timonthy]

tipotep, on 10 October 2012 - 12:18 AM, said:

Are you trying to confuse me or something

If they aren't going to return any samples to earth  why did you write ...



TiP.

I read it as him referring to possible samples being returned on future missions?

[stevewinn]

Timonthy, on 10 October 2012 - 03:24 AM, said:

I read it as him referring to possible samples being returned on future missions?

Yes i read it the same way.  -  but to be fair to tipotep the reply could lead to confusion if people dont understand the abilities of Curiosity. it only becomes clear without reference waspie was referring to future missions if you understand the abilities of the rover in the first place.

all cleared up now so confusion over well played timonthy.

im looking forward to see what curiosity discovers. the findings cannot come soon enough. this is the only downside to space exploration, it takes to long.

[27vet]

Let's hope the "object" is benign if it came from the rover. As far as bringing samples back is concerned, it would not be a big jump from where we are now.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

27vet, on 10 October 2012 - 07:04 PM, said:

Let's hope the "object" is benign if it came from the rover. As far as bringing samples back is concerned, it would not be a big jump from where we are now.

It's a bit more complex than you make it seem. Firstly you will need a rover to collect the samples, probably over a 2 year period whilst waiting for the next vehicle to arrive.

Then you need to land a second spacecraft, with pin point accuracy, close enough to the rover that the rover can deliver it's payload to the return vehicle.

The return vehicle has to launch a capsule from the Martian surface onto a course which will return that capsule to the Earth.

A Mars sample return  mission is considerably more complex than any mission carried out so far. Both NASA and ESA are working on such missions. NASA is looking to launch a mission some time after 2018, ESA is aiming for 2022, but with current budgetary constraints there is every chance this could be pushed back further.