[meteorite-list] ET phone Nome...

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:56:05 -0400
Message-ID: <594994lmu319i03ras41la6b1lb5d0sbl2_at_4ax.com>

... as in Alaska. Because, see, the Phoenix lander is at the cold polar
outskirts of Mars, and Nome is at the-- ah, forget it.

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/02/the-white-house-is-briefed-phoenix-about-to-announce-potential-for-life-on-mars/

It would appear that the US President has been briefed by Phoenix scientists
about the discovery of something more "provocative" than the discovery of water
existing on the Martian surface. This news comes just as the Thermal and Evolved
Gas Analyzer (TEGA) confirmed experimental evidence for the existence of water
in the Mars regolith on Thursday. Whilst NASA scientists are not claiming that
life once existed on the Red Planet's surface, new data appears to indicate the
"potential for life" more conclusively than the TEGA water results. Apparently
these new results are being kept under wraps until further, more detailed
analysis can be carried out, but we are assured that this announcement will be
huge


So why is there all this secrecy? According to scientists in communication with
Aviation Week & Space Technology, the next big discovery will need to be mulled
over for a while before it is announced to the world. In fact, the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory science team for the MECA wet-chemistry instrument that
made these undisclosed findings were kept out of the July 31st news conference
(confirming water) so additional analysis could be carried out, avoiding any
questions that may have revealed their preliminary results. They have also made
the decision to discuss the results with the Bush Administration's Presidential
Science Advisor's office before a press conference between mid-August and early
September.

Although good news, Thursday's announcement of the discovery of water on Mars
comes as no surprise to mission scientists and some are amused by the media's
reaction to the TEGA results. "They have discovered water on Mars for the third
or fourth time," one senior Mars scientist joked. These new MECA results are,
according to the Phoenix team, a little more complex than the water "discovery."
Scientists are keen to point out however, that this secretive news will in no
way indicate the existence of life (past or present) on Mars; Phoenix simply is
not equipped make this discovery. What it can do is test the Mars soil for
compounds suitable to support life. The MECA instrument does have microscopes
capable of resolving bacterial-scale life forms however, but this is not the
focus of the forthcoming announcement, sources say.

This new MECA discovery, combined with TEGA data will probably expose something
more compelling, completing another piece of the puzzle in the search for the
correct conditions for life as we know it to survive on Mars. Critical to this
search is to understand how the recently confirmed water and Mars regolith
behave together under the Phoenix lander in the cold Martian arctic.

The MECA instrument had already made the landmark discovery that Mars "soil" was
much like the soil more familiar on Earth. This finding prompted scientists to
indicate that the minerals and pH levels in the regolith could support some
terrestrial plants, indicating this would be useful for future Mars settlers.

What with the discovery of water, and the discovery that Mars soil is very much
like the stuff we find on Earth, it is hard to guess as to what the MECA's
second soil test has discovered. What ever it is, it sounds pretty significant,
especially as NASA and the University of Arizona are taking extraordinary steps
to avoid any more details being leaked to the outside world. I just hope were
not getting excited over something benign
Received on Sat 02 Aug 2008 12:56:05 PM PDT