SCIENCE:
Mars Rover Discovery Suggests Possibility of Rocks On Mars
by Solomon Wall, staff-writer for the Wall Talker
LOS ANGELES-- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has recently discovered what scientists are excitedly calling "further strong evidence for the existence of rocks on Mars." Images transmitted back to earth today reveal an object with key rock-like features that NASA scientists claim to be indicative of a genuine rock, although final analysis is still forthcoming.
Up until this point, exploration has led to findings that confirm at least a certain kind of rock is already known to exist on Mars. With Opportunity's latest discovery, it may soon be concluded that a certain other kind of rock exists there as well. Should exploration continue to yield further rock findings, scientists claim they'll soon be able to confirm the existence of rocks in general on the Red Planet.
"And if this turns out to be the case, it will leave the door wide open for the possibility of many sizes of rocks, including rocks so small they may even be considered sand, which as we all know is a necessary component of beaches," postulated Steve Squyres, chief scientist for the NASA mission. "This, in turn, would mean that it's not inconceivable for beaches to have once existed on Mars, thereby requiring shorelines, and thus making oceans an almost foregone conclusion, which, if anything like the ones on Earth, might indicate a possible environment serving as an ideal hotbed of activity for life itself! Perhaps! We've never been closer to unlocking the secrets of this world."
With approximately one year of operation behind them, rovers Opportunity and Spirit have literally travelled well beyond all of NASA's initial expectations. They were expected to crash. This latest data follows a stream of significant findings which have, as NASA officials posit, been earning well beyond the mission's nearly $1 billion pricetag. Since landing, 62,000 images along with other data have been transmitted back to Earth, helping to verify the likely Martian existence of what amounts to five drops of water, a wellspring of dust, some gravity, the ground, and an occasional light breeze. These findings come on the heels of European probe, Huygens' momentous discovery of dampness on Saturn's moon, Titan.
Added Squyres, "This is when science gets really exciting."
Up until this point, exploration has led to findings that confirm at least a certain kind of rock is already known to exist on Mars. With Opportunity's latest discovery, it may soon be concluded that a certain other kind of rock exists there as well. Should exploration continue to yield further rock findings, scientists claim they'll soon be able to confirm the existence of rocks in general on the Red Planet.
"And if this turns out to be the case, it will leave the door wide open for the possibility of many sizes of rocks, including rocks so small they may even be considered sand, which as we all know is a necessary component of beaches," postulated Steve Squyres, chief scientist for the NASA mission. "This, in turn, would mean that it's not inconceivable for beaches to have once existed on Mars, thereby requiring shorelines, and thus making oceans an almost foregone conclusion, which, if anything like the ones on Earth, might indicate a possible environment serving as an ideal hotbed of activity for life itself! Perhaps! We've never been closer to unlocking the secrets of this world."
With approximately one year of operation behind them, rovers Opportunity and Spirit have literally travelled well beyond all of NASA's initial expectations. They were expected to crash. This latest data follows a stream of significant findings which have, as NASA officials posit, been earning well beyond the mission's nearly $1 billion pricetag. Since landing, 62,000 images along with other data have been transmitted back to Earth, helping to verify the likely Martian existence of what amounts to five drops of water, a wellspring of dust, some gravity, the ground, and an occasional light breeze. These findings come on the heels of European probe, Huygens' momentous discovery of dampness on Saturn's moon, Titan.
Added Squyres, "This is when science gets really exciting."
posted by Solomon Wall @ 1:40 PM
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