Curiosity breaks rock to reveal dazzling

[seeder]

"A rock crushed under the Curiosity Mars rover's wheels has dazzled mission scientists in more ways than one".

Mars is supposed to be the Red Planet, but the rock - dubbed "Tintina" - is a brilliant shade of white.

The unusual colour indicates the presence of hydrated minerals that formed when water flowed through the robot's landing site in ancient times.

Water-bearing minerals in Tintina and elsewhere add to the growing catalogue of water evidence at this location.

Rover team members have been presenting mission findings at the 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in The Woodlands, Texas.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21340279

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Images of this rock can be found in the "Missions to Mars" section of the UM image gallery: HERE.

[freetoroam]

We all know that water is crucial to life on Earth and this find is an indication that there may once been life on Mars, I hope that they find some more conclusive fossils in time, there must surely be some somewhere.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

I hope that they find some more conclusive fossils in time, there must surely be some somewhere.

Why must there be?

Mars has been barren of water for billions of years. If life did evolve then it is unlikely to have progressed beyond simple life forms. Fossils of bacteria are not the easiest of things to find on Earth, never mind Mars, especially with a Rover not designed to look for them.

[seeder]

We all know that water is crucial to life on Earth and this find is an indication that there may once been life on Mars, I hope that they find some more conclusive fossils in time, there must surely be some somewhere.

Yeh and I really really hope this rover, will be 'the one' to find some evidence of life, past or present. AND SOON!

But has anyone really thought what it will mean to them if they announced there had been life? Something perhaps more significant than microbial? Fossils will be excellent to find I agree, but Id expect as on earth, you need to dig deep into the sedimentary layers to find some, or simply be incredibly lucky and find some exposed.

[bison]

Microbial fossils on Mars could be like those recently found in the Pilbara region of Australia. Three and a half billion year old bacterial mats, communities of a great many individual organisms, left substantial sized traces in rocks. Due to a chain of geological circumstances, these rocks lie in easy view today. Such fossils, if they exist on Mars should be readily visible to Curiosity's hand lens magnifier.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Yeh and I really really hope this rover, will be 'the one' to find some evidence of life, past or present. AND SOON!

This rover is not designed or equipped to look for life. It's mission was to discover if the conditions even existed in the past to support life. It has shown that they probably did. It will be up to later missions, possibly the joint ESA/Russian EXOMars missions, to look to see if life is still present.

[CRYSiiSx2]

Why must there be?

Mars has been barren of water for billions of years. If life did evolve then it is unlikely to have progressed beyond simple life forms. Fossils of bacteria are not the easiest of things to find on Earth, never mind Mars, especially with a Rover not designed to look for them.

I think having a few rovers looking at very small regions of an entire planet isn't enough to say we know for sure the real past of Mars. Hopefully something might be found some day, although I don't think that anything will ever be found on the surface.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

I think having a few rovers looking at very small regions of an entire planet isn't enough to say we know for sure the real past of Mars. Hopefully something might be found some day, although I don't think that anything will ever be found on the surface.

Which is why NASA don't have rovers wondering around aimlessly hoping to find something. The reality is that top geologists and planetary scientists spent years looking for a site most likely to show if conditions were suitable for life in the past, and as they have now shown unequivocally that fresh water did exist on the surface in the past it shows they did their job well.

[CRYSiiSx2]

Which is why NASA don't have rovers wondering around aimlessly hoping to find something. The reality is that top geologists and planetary scientists spent years looking for a site most likely to show if conditions were suitable for life in the past, and as they have now shown unequivocally that fresh water did exist on the surface in the past it shows they did their job well.

True they do their job well, especially seeing from a satellite.

[DONTEATUS]

Baby steps comes to mind .

[Merc14]

In a realtively short time Curiosity has pretty much achieved its primary objective of :

The overarching science goal of the mission is to assess whether

the landing area has ever had or still has environmental conditions

favorable to microbial life, both its habitability and its preservation.

Obviously Mars did have a water environment at one time in its past and life, as we know it, could have existed. Congrats NASA and JPL. I hope they solve the computer problems they are having onboard.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

I hope they solve the computer problems they are having onboard.[/size][/font]

It looks like they have, see here: Curiosity Rover Exits 'Safe Mode'.

[marcos anthony toledo]

It is interesting all these glitches Curiosity has been having of late. I wonder what NASA is trying to cover up about life on Mars. Especially since it is really under the boot of the military masquerading as a civilian agency.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

It is interesting all these glitches Curiosity has been having of late. I wonder what NASA is trying to cover up about life on Mars. Especially since it is really under the boot of the military masquerading as a civilian agency.

It would be nice if just once we could have a logical scientific discussion in, what is after all, the science section of the site without someone spouting off some silly conspiracy theory.

There is only one thing wrong with your post: ALL OFF IT.

If NASA was trying to cover up life on Mars why would they make the mission so public, why not make it a secret mission?

Why do they allow universities access to the raw data? Much of the information released is not done so through NASA but by research teams operating at various Universities. This is standard NASA practice.

Why are the raw images published immediately they are received on Earth? If they are involved in a cover up allowing the public to see images before they are processed would seem a rather odd way of doing things.

Why would they allow none US instruments on board?

Now if you wish to pursue you conspiracy/cover up claims please do so in the either the Extraterrestrial Life & The UFO Phenomenon section or the Conspiracies & Secret Societies section... the clues are in the names.

[Merc14]

It looks like they have, see here: Curiosity Rover Exits 'Safe Mode'.

That's good news! That's why they load two computers onboard. While at teh Virginia Air and Space Center I talked to one of the reps from JPL that was visiting for a demo on the day before the landing and asked her why they used such relatively antiquated computers with Power-PC CPU's. She explained that nearly all missions use these computers because they are incredibly reliable and proven, fully hardened against radiation and are very well understood and known.

It is interesting all these glitches Curiosity has been having of late. I wonder what NASA is trying to cover up about life on Mars. Especially since it is really under the boot of the military masquerading as a civilian agency.

What is more interesting is how incredibly reliable and successful this mission has been. The computer glitches are the first real problem the Rover has had and they put two identicakl computers onboard for just this reason. Curiosity is arguably the most complex machine that has ever landed on another planet so one would expect myriad problems yet the thing has operated flawlessly till Computer A dumped. They brought Computer B up and it hiccupped and then came back on-line and they are fully functional again. It has basically completed its mission already and is now on to other science yet you guys want to cry cover-up. Why? You should be applauding the openness of the data delivered and the truly remarkable science this machine is doing on another planet.

Edited March 20, 2013 by Merc14

[Sundew]

Would be funny if this is paint from the rover, lol!

[highdesert50]

Possibly more evidence of a wet past. So, are these geological finds more indicative of random hits of asteroids and comets than of a once large body of water? Is Curiosity equipped to determine if the isotopic composition of these samples varies from location to location on Mars? If so, then that insight might provide some evidence of more random and isolated hits of watery asteroids and comets. Alternatively, if a large body of water existed, perhaps there is yet hope that it can be found in some measurable quantity.

[SYNAPSE]

ALKA-SELTZER ! NO JOKE~! MAY BE A NOT SO OLD CHEM REAC ANY SIGNS OF FROZEN SINGS?

[SYNAPSE]

I MEAN SINGS CLUE SINGLE IMPACTED?

[First-time Human]

After having a good look at the enlarged photo, what I found MORE interesting is all the little rocks around it.. They're all smoothed out, like we find in creek beds, polished smooth by the flowing of water.

Isn't this a bigger indication of previous flowing water on Mars?? What else can cause smooth rocks like that??

***SNIP***

Edited March 21, 2013 by Waspie_Dwarf
removed drug reference.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

After having a good look at the enlarged photo, what I found MORE interesting is all the little rocks around it.. They're all smoothed out, like we find in creek beds, polished smooth by the flowing of water.

Isn't this a bigger indication of previous flowing water on Mars?? What else can cause smooth rocks like that??

***SNIP***

You are a little behind the times. NASA announced that Curiosity had discovered a stream bed back in September (see HERE).

That water has flowed on Mars in the past is not the big news here, that has been known for sometime, it's whether the conditions existed that were suitable for life in the past. Soil analysis carried out by the Mars Phoenix Lander showed high levels of perchlorate and suggested highly contaminated water and an environment unfriendly for life.

The latest Curiosity discoveries suggest not only that there was water on Mars, but that this water was fresh. One of the scientists suggested that it would have been pure enough to drink. That suggests an environment conducive to life.

[Lava_Lady]

It's beautiful! I want one! Gonna put it on a chain and wear it every where! Bling!

[Crabby Kitten]

Could that white interior be a lot of crystals?

[Starseed hybrid 1111]

yeah we all now already that life existed on mars and that there is still some water left.but nothing new to really read here.i have rocks in my house too