Marston's Share Discussion Threads

[natking1] 08/6/2003 09:26

OFF TO MARS... on Holiday?

[captain swing] 07/6/2003 23:21

Beagle 2 is safely on its way


"The launch could not have gone better"

[sparticus2002] 05/5/2003 18:01

BEAGLE 2
The future Mars landing site for the European Beagle 2 mission, lies on the floor of a large impact basin in the northern hemisphere. Its low-lying plains include strings of cratered domes from ancient volcanoes and a series of small channels that indicate ancient water activity. Called Isidis Planitia, the site may also contain rocks from deep within the Martian crust that were blasted to the surface by its formative impact.

Mission planners look to launch in June from the Russian Cosmodrome, then descend to Mars six months later in search for evidence of past life.

[sparticus2002] 05/5/2003 17:57

According to:

Banshee - 27 May'02 - 01:05



Enough ice it were to melt to cover the planet mars in an ocean at least 500 metres deep (1,640 feet) found under the surface.

Fascinating stuff with profound implications, bet the US try and get there in 10 years now that the Chinese are edging into the race .

[sparticus2002] 05/5/2003 17:38

ANCIENT LIFE STUDIES


This shows a possible elongated fossilized Martian cell on the surface of a clay mineral inside a Martian meteorite. Other possible fossilized microbes are partly embedded in the clay mineral. This clay mineral is now known to have formed on Mars about 700 million years ago. A NASA research team of scientists at the Johnson Space Center and at Stanford University has found evidence that strongly suggests primitive life may have existed on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago.

The NASA-funded team found the first organic molecules thought to be of Martian origin; several mineral features characteristic of biological activity; and possible microscopic fossils of primitive, bacteria-like organisms inside of an ancient Martian rock that fell to Earth as a meteorite. This array of indirect evidence of past life was reported in the Aug. 16, 1996 issue of the journal Science, presenting the investigation to the scientific community at large to reach a future consensus that will either confirm or deny the team's conclusion.


The shadow of the Martian moon Phobos is captured by the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera. Many people ask how scientists know the meteorite originated on Mars. Most Martian meteorites are 1.3 billion years old or less, much younger than typical igneous meteorites from asteroids which are 4.5 billion years old. They also have higher contents of volatiles than igneous meteorites. The conclusive evidence that this meteorite originated on Mars comes from the measurement of gases trapped in its interior. The trapped gases match those that Viking measured in the Martian atmosphere.
:LINK:

[sparticus2002] 05/5/2003 17:21

OR WILL WE HAVE TO GO THERE to find out?

Magazines think so...



NASA's Mars Photos:


...

MARS Photo Collection:

AstroBiology Website/ MARS LIFE page

ABOUT THE METEORITE: