Water on Mars??


NASA’s Opportunity rover examines rock unlike any other, discovers signs of water on Mars

For the past several months all eyes have been on NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover. However, it now seems that one of Curiosity’s predecessors Opportunity, may discovered signs of water on Mars.

Opportunity Breaks NASA's 40-Year Roving Record

After nine years of hard Mars roving, Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Opportunity has broken a 40-year-old extraterrestrial distance record.

On Thursday, the tenacious six-wheeled robot drove 80 meters (263 feet), nudging the total distance traveled since landing on the red planet in 2004 to 35.760 kilometers (22.220 miles). NASA’s previous distance record was held by Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt when, in December 1972, they drove their Lunar Roving Vehicle 35.744 kilometers (22.210 miles) over the lunar surface.

Yea!!!

It's only a matter of time before they discover some form of life under a Martian rock somewhere. I would concentrate on the area where they have found outgassing on a seasonal basis. I wonder how such a discovery will affect plans to colonize Mars. There is no prime directive but there are those who would claim we have no right to alter Mar's natural evolution.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

Lets hope they don't drive it into another sand trap . I would like to see it break the Russians record ,go you magnificent thing you .

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Everyone,


Opportunity rover finds traces left by 'water you can drink' on ancient Mars

Nearly 10 years after its launch, NASA's Opportunity rover has found its first evidence that Mars once had non-acidic water — the kind of water that could easily sustain the life we typically see on Earth.

Let's hope it lasts long enough to find something really significant before it dies .

Like some sort of fossil .

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Let's hope it lasts long enough to find something really significant before it dies .

Like some sort of fossil .

I sure hope so!

Opportunity now is making its way south along the Endeavour Crater rim toward an exposed stack of rock that may provide more clues about Mars' transition from a warm and wet world to the cold, dry, acidic desert that exists today.

Scientists are hopeful Opportunity will make it there by August 1, before the start of Martian winter in the southern hemisphere.

I too hope Opportunity continues to discover valuable clues about Mars' history but to be fair I also think the rover has accomplished far more than was originally planned or hoped for. And it was built by the low bidder for a government program. Go figure.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

I too hope Opportunity continues to discover valuable clues about Mars' history but to be fair I also think the rover has accomplished far more than was originally planned or hoped for. And it was built by the low bidder for a government program. Go figure.

I agree with you! Let's not forget Spirit, is still up there.

The destination, called "Solander Point," offers Opportunity access to a much taller stack of geological layering than the area where the rover has worked for the past 20 months, called "Cape York." Both areas are raised segments of the western rim of Endeavour Crater, which is about 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter.

hope i did not post this.



Old Opportunity Mars rover makes rock discovery


Esperance is the most clay-laden rock seen by Opportunity in its nine and a half years on Mars

yes i did, sorry :-(

don't want to start another thread.

Everyone,



Marks on Martian Dunes May Be Tracks of Dry-Ice Sleds





Several types of downhill flow features have been observed on Mars. This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is an example of a type called "linear gullies." Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona