http://www.congoo.com/news/2008June26/Mine...found-Mars-NASA

Minerals Needed for Life Found on Mars
By Clara Moskowitz
Staff Writer
posted: 26 June 2008
03:55 pm ET

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander found evidence of mineral nutrients essential to life in Martian dirt, mission scientists announced Thursday.

After performing the first wet chemistry experiment ever done on another planet, Phoenix discovered that a sample it dug of Martian dirt contained several soluble minerals, including potassium, magnesium and chloride. Though the data is preliminary, the results are very exciting, scientists said.

"We basically have found what appears to be the requirements for nutrients to support life," said Phoenix's wet chemistry lab lead, Sam Kounaves of Tufts University. "This is the type of soil you'd probably have in your backyard. You might be able to grow asparagus pretty well, but probably not strawberries."

Asparagus, which thrives in alkaline soil, would like the Martian dirt, which Phoenix measured to have a very alkaline pH of between eight to nine. Strawberries, meanwhile, like acidic soil, he said.

The finding comes a week after the lander discovered water ice in the same dirt.

On June 25, the probe placed a cubic centimeter sample of Martian dirt in its onboard wet chemistry laboratory for the first time. The lab, part of Phoenix's suite of instruments called the Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer, or MECA, was designed to test Mars' dirt for salts, acidity, minerals and conductivity.

After mixing the dirt with water Phoenix brought from Earth in one of MECA's teacup-sized beakers, the instrument measured various characteristics of the solution to learn about the properties of the dirt.

MECA includes four beakers, each of which can be used only once. The inside of each beaker contains 26 sensors designed to study red planet material, NASA officials have said.

"We're making mud, we're stirring it up, we're measuring it with sensors," said Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist Michael Hecht, lead of the MECA instrument.

Habitable world

The new findings help fulfill Phoenix's main purpose: to search for signs that the red planet's northern polar regions could have been habitable to life. The probe landed in the arctic plains of Mars May 25 to begin what is now a planned four-month mission. It is not equipped to find life itself.

The soluble mineral nutrients it found, and the dirt's hospitable pH level, are both promising signs. However the MECA instrument is not able to test for organic compounds, such as carbon, oxygen and nitrogen, which are also necessary for life as we know it.

"We did find basically that there's nothing about [the dirt] that would preclude life," Kounaves said. "In fact it seems very friendly."

Though the dirt itself seems to be hospitable, Kounaves pointed out that the very top layer at the surface is exposed to high levels of harsh UV light that is damaging to organic compounds, so may not be able to support life.

"There could be microbes living meters and meters underground," he said. "They would be very happy."

Water ice

Phoenix also recently found another promising sign that this Mars environment could be habitable to life. In a major success last week, the probe photographed what scientists say must be water ice: a few bright crumbs that evaporated over four days from a trench in the ground. The scientists think it's water, and not some other material such as carbon dioxide, because of the time frame over which it vaporized. The local temperatures are too warm for carbon dioxide to remain frozen for even one day, scientists said.

Launched in August 2007, Phoenix includes cameras, a scoop-tipped robotic arm, weather station and ovens in addition to its wet chemistry lab.

The probe's oven instrument, the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA), also recently completed an experiment in which it heated up a sample of Martian dirt to 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit).
When the sample was heated, the instrument measured signs of water, which researchers think was probably emitted when minerals melted that contained chemically-bound water. This water would have been bonded to other molecules in the minerals, rather than existing on its own in the dirt.

"This is the first time anybody's ever heated up part of a planet to such high temperatures," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for TEGA. "When we heated up the sample we got some modest amounts of water vapor. This is what we were hoping to see."

Though further analysis is needed to determine the source of the water vapor for sure, "what we can say now is that the soil clearly has interacted with water in the past," he said.

The results of both the TEGA and MECA tests are showing scientists that it's possible Mars may indeed have hosted, or be hosting, some form of life.

"Over time I've come to the conclusion that the amazing thing about Mars is not that it's an alien world but that it's actually very Earth-like," Kounaves said.

Umm…those pictures of plant life on Mars posted recently are feeling more genuine by the day. Sorry, can’t remember which member originally posted the following link.
http://www.marsanomalyresearch.com/index.htm

And NASA doesn’t have means to test for oxygen, carbon and nitrogen on this present trip after spending millions and millions of dollars? Mission to confirm water or w/e, and test soil for viability to grow stuff in but no one decided to save time and money to test for vital air elements that would be needed to grow plant life from earth? Yeah, pull the other one.

But in MPO there is life up there and NASA knows it, so they don’t need to test for anything.

Love and peace,
Sam

if thats the case, then my theory still stands. mars was once habitable. and possibly was inhabited. until it became too cold, and was too far away from the sun, that all life on it started to perish. not sure how intelligent this life was. but i believe it could have been possible.

That explains all those trees and vegetation.

Maybe it would have breathable air ...just like the moon!






http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Moons/TheMoon/WaterIce.html


Moon Secrets Revealed : John Lear & Richard Hoagland Pt.2
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8c6MVNvCy5g&...7E9&index=7

Hi Sam,

You're not quite seeing the full picture here. The article you quoted is talking specifically about the Wet Chemistry Lab (WCL) experiment which is just one part of the MECA instrument onboard Phoenix. As the article says, the WCL is designed to test for inorganic materials to better understand the soil chemistry. The Wet Chemistry Lab isn't the only instrument onboard Phoenix, though! We also have the TEGA instrument (Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer). TEGA is designed to measure hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen in both the soil and the atmosphere. For a good overview of the entire mission, check out the Mars Phoenix Mission web site (link). There's a lot of really good information there.

As for life on Mars, no, we haven't found any yet. If a NASA mission does one day find evidence of life, though, I think you'll find a bunch of very happy scientists and engineers who are eager to announce their findings to the world.

Regards,

Pericynthion

Thanks, Pericynthion, for the extra info. No disrespect to you, but I don’t trust the top ones of NASA. I am fully aware that not all who work at NASA are privy to all information. Photoshopping to hide stuff. So why should anyone trust that all is being revealed?

Since there are other instruments to measure the composition of the air, I suppose it is just a matter of waiting for what we already know; that the elements needed for life to exist is in the atmosphere. And I don’t necessarily mean humans will be capable of breathing the air. The make up of the Mar’s atmosphere would be different to how it was when it was inhabited before either a war broke out or hit by an incredible meteor shower (MPO humanoid races were there and some still present (but not necessarily the humanoid race, whatever it hailed from) but underground).

So, what is your take on the photos presumable from Mars showing signs of what looks like plant life? But really, pyramids, other stuctures, cities...not everyone is that stupid to believe these are natural rock formations.
Love and peace,
Sam

Hi, Sam.


When? Could you include any details?


I hope Peri replies anyway as his posts are very interesting, but his views on such matters - and fantastic amounts of information, along with extremely high quality HiRISE pictures of Cydonia - are to be found in the later pages of this thread.

I think there was a topic about it awhile ago, but theres is tons of evidence suggesting nasa/o other have been tampering with he images sent back from mars, most notebly images taken by the MRO. In some of those images you an quite clearley see blured out areas, and in some cases it looks as if they have been using the *clone tool*.



as for the the martian soil, it maybe viable to grow plants etc, but that does not mean plant life could grow on mars, the atmospheric conditions on mars would not allow this.

Btw mind my bad spelling, im tired as hell.

I have yet to see a single piece of evidence for that tampering. Such blurred areas are typical due to transmission data loss, which would be expected to occur given that Mars isn't exactly just down the block.

Secondly, both NASA and ESA are imaging the martian surface - are they both in on it?! And what would be the reason to hide anything in the first place?! No, this whole idea in all honesty shows a lack of knowledge about how science actually works.



We'll see in the time to come, but I agree on the atmospheric conditions being prohibitive for any plant life to actually exist.

Cheers,
Badeskov

Thanks, Nucular. Being new to this site I am only getting familiar with people here. But has been a very enjoyable and informative few weeks and I am very greatful for all the imput I have seen. I even enjoy the skeptics (as long as they aren’t rude and visa vers) as they ensure we do our homework. I am also very impressed with the moderators. Thanks, guys.

Anyway, thanks for the link to Peri’s site. I will go and have a look through.

It is very obvious in some photos that they have been tampered with. Why blurry in areas of interest? Plus tempering is not the same as obvious blurring of image due to interference in reception at the other end.

I am trying to find a photo I was sent the other day showing what I believe to be tampering. I wanted to post it to this site for some opinions, but couldn’t access the site this morning. Nor could I down load the entire photo slide show.

And regarding life on Mars. When I see life out side of planet earth I keep in mind that life forms elsewhere would be sustained in different ways than here. So just because the atmosphere or soil make up is not compatible with life on earth, it doesn’t mean it cant sustain life forms from somewhere else. If all is not compatible with planet earth the ruling seems to be that life doesn’t exist on the particular planet being investigated. To me that is narrow minded or just down right absurd. After all, scientists were awe struck some years ago when they went deep into the sea around the volcanos to discover an abundance of life in temperatures and conditions that would kill most life we know. This has made many scientist rethink their concept of what is a life sustaining environment. Plants? Yes, but not as we know them. I recognise that others do think out side the box, thankfully.

Don’t worry about spelling, Akuma166. Been having too many late nights myself and all over the place at the moment.

I think some tend to forget people might be dyslexic (not that I am saying you are dyslexic, your words just had me thinking) or have other learning and retention problems. I have problems. I am sure I suffer some form of language problem. Believe me, without spell check I wouldn’t have a chance (and I have to use an online dictionary frequently to make sure I am using the right word as some words sound the same to me but have totally different meanings which can be very embarrassing). Most of my posts have to be written to a document first, spell checked and then I just hope for the best. My grammar and poor usage of words has had me in hot water several times. I wish people would over look little mistakes as I am sure some just don’t want to post since they are worried about their spelling and grammar and being criticized. Maybe those with such problems should have an automatic signature stating they are dyslexic or something. Those with dyslexia are no less intelligent or wise than the next person, sometimes people with dyslexia have very high skills but they cant get around the dyslexia.



Love and peace,
Sam

Hi Sam,

Sorry for focusing on this particular part, but I seriously have a hard time finding any evidence of tampering anywhere. I am probably thick headed, so if you could point it out to me specifically, it would be very much appreciated

Cheers,
Badeskov

Here, Badeskov, http://www.marsanomalyresearch.com/index.htm . Unless there is concrete evidence that this bloke has smudged out parts of pictures to make up a cover up story. If the pictures weren’t originally smudged, then lets see the pictures. And these are smudges not reception difficulties. But I suppose most things are going to be suspicious until the celestials show themselves to put and end to all speculation about everything.

I am also still trying to get that picture I suspect of being photoshopped that I was sent.

Love and Peace,
Sam

http://www.greatdanepro.com/Blue%20Bueaty/index.htm

The above is a flash movie sent me. The first half ignore. I am interested in the section “And…can you imagine being there”, where there are really clear pictures of the astronauts outside the space shuttle and clear pictures of the planet. It is picture #6 that I feel has been photo shopped. Nice clear planet on the left, clear astronaut, clear spacecraft, then a badly pixelled sky and sea of the planet to the right. I am one of those who love crystal clear pictures and throw anything out that is blurry or shows imperfections. So this part of the photo hit me immediately as it ruined it and does not fit with the rest of the photo. Who knows, maybe a bit of space junk drifted by so they photoshopped it out, or the astronaut dropped something that ended up drifting away. Bit embarrassing that. Enough junk on planet earth without the astronauts junking up space. Yeah, I know, heaps of junk apparently up there already.

Sorry couldn’t just copy the photo and paste it to the site. I don’t know how to.

Love and peace,
Sam

You're welcome, Sam. And by the way, welcome to the forum! I've been reading your other posts about possible image tampering by NASA, so let me see if I can dig up a few things for you. I've never seen any indication that NASA has altered images to hide things, and have absolutely no reason to believe that they are. NASA is very, very open with their science data and with all of the technical information about the spacecraft and the missions. All of this can be (and is) checked over by other scientists and engineers who would be able to spot falsified data pretty quickly. Plus, badeskov made a great point a few posts earlier that NASA isn't the only source of data about Mars. ESA has the Mars Express spacecraft in orbit, too.


Hey, you don't have to wait at all to find out the composition of Mars' atmosphere! Here it is (reference):

Carbon dioxide______95.32%
Nitrogen_____________2.7%
Argon________________1.6%
Oxygen_______________0.13%
Carbon monoxide______0.07%
Water vapor__________0.03%
Nitric oxide_________0.013%
Neon_________________2.5 ppm (parts per million)
Krypton______________300 ppb (parts per billion)
Formaldehyde_________130 ppb
Xenon_________________80 ppb
Ozone_________________30 ppb
Methane_______________10.5 ppb

The two NASA Viking landers made a very detailed analysis of the Martian atmosphere back in 1976, and the NASA and ESA spacecraft that are orbiting Mars right now are equipped with instruments that can measure the composition of the atmosphere and the surface from orbit.

Mars' atmosphere, is very, very thin (less than 1% as thick as Earth's atmosphere at the surface), and it's made up mostly of carbon dioxide, so humans are definitely not going to be breathing it! You're right about Mars' atmosphere likely being different a long time ago. The evidence seems to indicate that Mars had liquid water flowing on its surface at some time in the distant past. For this to happen, the atmosphere must have been thicker than it is now. The spacecraft NASA has been sending to Mars are trying to "follow the water" to figure out how Mars got to be the way it is today. And here's another good NASA page (link). It's about ten years old now, so some of the science may be a bit out of date, but it's still a nice article. By the way, Mars Polar Lander crashed while trying to land on Mars, and now Mars Phoenix is carrying out a very similar mission after rising from the ashes like the mythical Phoenix.



Are you talking about these formations?



If so, no, they're not plants. They're actually cracks in the dry ice near Mars' south pole. Every spring, when the sun starts to warm up the ice, it begins to evaporate below the surface. The trapped carbon dioxide gas forces its way up through the top levels of ice, creating the network of cracks and blowing geysers of dust hundreds of feet into the air. Nothing like this happens on Earth! For more information and a lot better photos, take a look at this report by the Mars Odyssey THEMIS team and this report by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE camera team.

As for the other things on Mars you think might be structures, etc., why don't you give me a couple examples and we'll see what we can figure out.

Well, after a setup like that, how could I possibly stay away??

Hi Sam,

Is this the photo you're talking about?



If so, then the explanation is pretty simple: It looks like this image was converted from full RGB color to indexed color at some point in time. The entire image actually looks pretty bad if you zoom in on the details. The ocean background just looks worse because the more subtle color tones got replaced by just a couple indexed colors. The image proportions have also been distorted. Basically, somebody other than NASA messed around with this photo.

Compare it with the original image NASA image (ISS015-E-22551). You can find a stunning high-resolution version on NASA's web site here. Even the low-resolution image direct from NASA looks great:

The soil is good enough to grow Asparagus!!!







Now if scientists go that far.. saying the soil is good enough to grow some earth crops... then... using the theory of Panspermia...

http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/P/panspermia.html
of earth being seeded by meteorites etc... then some of these same meteors would have landed and seeded Mars.. and consequently there should already be some plant life on Mars...


Panspermia: Astrobiology Space Missions to seed the Universe with Life

http://www.panspermia-society.com/

Thank you, Pericynthion, yes, that is picture #6. Much better on my visual senses. I appreciate your time and input on the picture.

The ‘plant’ picture also answers a couple of questions. I was looking at the other pictures of possible plant life a couple of days ago and thinking some of the plant life actually looked like oil gushing from blow holes. I just dismissed it as I thought if this were the case, then dark liquid would be lying around and since some delicate plants look similar to the phenomenon in the photo... But if its gas then I suppose it disperses upward?? Sorry, I am not a chemistry wiz. Where is all the stuff going? I don’t see dark clouds, or filthy looking surroundings of black on the ice. I am allowed to be stupid on such matters, this is why I am on this forum as I don’t profess to know a lot and I am here to learn. I am a fauna and flora nut.

The ‘pods’ also interested me. I don’t see those that lay on Mars rocks as having fallen from the sky as suggested. If they were plant/fungus, like mushrooms or stone cactus of some kind, they could have sporn from previous plants on the same rock, or even crept up and over during the passing of many generations, some plants on earth take years to grow a few millimeters. If they are actually circular rocks/pebbles of some kind I still find them fascinating regarding their distribution and so forth.

Which reminds me. I love asparagus, lol. Shame about the strawberries.

Virus survive without oxygen. So for me anything is possible till proven other wise, and no rock should be left unturned, figuratively speaking (I’m a sensitive guy, still can help thinking there might be some poor unsuspecting creature of some sort minding its own business and then comes along a few tones of human invention to squash it on landing. Yes, I so hate it when a bird crosses the road either by wing or foot while I am driving), otherwise or we would still believe the earth were flat.

At the end of the day I am not fussed if there is or isn’t life presently on Mars. MPO is that there is and/or was. It is just a matter of time before we know the whole truth.

Love and peace,
Sam