WBIR: Water discovery on Mars has UT ties

When news “broke” about the discovery of liquid water gushing over the slopes of Mars this week, the world went Red Planet insane… And they believe that’s something we have to be very mindful of.

It’s been a big week for Mars – and for NASA, whose astronauts hope to get there.

“The canals were an attempt, [Lowell] thought, by intelligent beings to carry water from the poles, where there was water, to the rest of the planet“, said Richard Zurek, chief scientist for the Mars Program Office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. It’s an entertaining film but initially doesn’t seem to bring any real life application – I mean, how many of us have to grow potatoes on Mars? As it turns out, he is not dead, but by the time he comes to consciousness, his space shuttle, crew, and capability to communicate with NASA are long gone. But it could also be the most frightening, making us wish liquid water didn’t exist at all. “This is the first spectral detection that unambiguously supports our liquid water-formation hypotheses for RSL“. The rocks and debris wander around the solar system for a while, and a few of it falls onto the other planet. Now the water is back in the atmosphere, and the cycle begins anew.

Through a process called deliquescence, the water on Mars and its chemicals allow it to remain in a constant state with lower temperatures and keeps it from boiling away in the planet’s scant atmosphere.

Since then, robotic missions have scoured the Red Planet for signs of liquid water.

Water’s heavy, so it seeps into the ground. The announcement sounds borderline unsexy when laid out scientifically.

This week – coincidentally in time for the release of the Matt Damon movie “The Martian” on Friday – their hunch was confirmed. The new findings of hydrated salts on the slopes point to what that relationship may be to these dark features.

In keeping with the Mars PR blitz, NASA teased its news conference about flowing water on Monday with the tag, “Mars Mystery Solved”. In fact, it could be deadly.

The photos showed by Yahoo concluded that liquid water is discovered that can be seen there as a proof, which has never been seen before.

“NASA wants to go to Mars”. There’s methane in the Martian atmosphere, but no one knows if its biological or non-biological in origin. However, the experiment was declared a dud when no corresponding organic chemistry was detected in the sample. “This was over 14 years ago”. Perhaps future missions should look for evidence for past and present “habitable environments”, a mentality that persists today. Could Elon get to Mars before NASA?

Being a powerful oxidizer, when heated, it is known that perchlorates destroy organic compounds. Even if it is just microbial, the discovery of life on another planet will dramatically reshape philosophy as it pertains to our very existence. “People can think other possibilities are possible“. It would be the mother of all decontamination efforts.

Budget is mission-critical. Of all the obstacles to a humans-to-Mars mission, the budgetary challenges may be the most serious. Let us know in the comments! It also helps raise awareness of the agency’s plan to actually put people on Mars, an engineering feat that would be a quantum leap beyond the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing in difficulty and expense.

The water can be a guide for future exploration both for robots and humans. We seem to be one step closer to answering the question: Is there life on Mars? Or will you block manned missions, too?

We’ll have to be water farmers.