"Big News From Mars? Rover Scientists Mum For Now"

[Teal Rain]

http://www.npr.org/2..._medium=twitter

[symesie04]

So let me get this right, this guy is at ends with himself at the possibilty of some exciting news pending from NASA but is stressed that they cant tell him what it is yet. So he has decided to share his stress with everyone else on the planet? lol

[Pete Presland]

you know what they say about "a problem shared" it would exciting to get a definite indication of a previous existence of life

[Teal Rain]

It is a bit of a "non-announcement" if ever there was one!

[Alastair Rae]

Organic molecules? Fossil organisms? Footprints? LGM?

[Moonshane]

I thought the header said Big Newts from Mars. surely a telescope production plant would be obvious?

[symesie04]

That would mean the chinese economy is expanding way daster than previously thought!

[Cath]

hmmmmmm

"We may have found something really exciting but we ainnnnn't goooonaaaaa teeeeellllll yaaaaaa"

tut tut tut

[symesie04]

Maybe they are just keeping it as a christmas surprise. Oooh maybe they have analysed the soil samples and found traces of Santa's Grotto.

[Naemeth]

I thought the header said Big Newts from Mars. surely a telescope production plant would be obvious?

Only if you were looking at it, or perhaps it's covered by a gigantic mirror!

[Mr Q]

As the article says, the first martian air sample came up with methane - proof (?) of primitive organic life presently on mars - what we all been waiting for. But the air sample was seen to be contaminated with air from the launch in FL. And, once the sample area was purged, the methane presence disappeared.

Some scientists believe the summer areas of Mars do produce methane from primitive life forms and this methane gets moved around Mars into the winter areas from the martian wind. But even if this were true, these primitive life forms would be dependent on seasonal conditions and to help verify this theory, the rover will have to wait for warmer martian weather to see if previous methane free air samples that were negative, then turn up positive.

I can see the reason for the person to be cautious and wanting to make more sample tests but before any difinitive can be made, why announce such a problem???

[sologuitarist61]

Sounds interesting - wonder what it can be?

[yeti monster]

Perhaps somebody is seeking further funding....

[Andy McK]

It's probably my mate from Nasa finally going public with that pic he sent me ??

But seriously,

I read that in the summer climes, clouds of Methane have been detected in the Martian atmosphere,

possibly from subterranean sources. I mean, if Mars has been around as long as we have,

and I think it's a "given" that water used to exist on the surface,

You have to assume that evolutionary forces work just as well there, as here.

so if the surface evaporated slow enough for microbial life forms to "burrow", there could be a chance that what we are looking for is under the surface, away from all that nasty ultra-violet, etc..

[AndrewT]

I have just read this on yahoo usa, cant wait to hear the news hope it is something positive.

[paul schofield]

Carrots and donkeys spring to mind, no surely, not on Mars ha sorry.

[rowan46]

They found Elvis?

[VigdisVZ]

Jimmy Hoffa?

[kenmyers]

There is an article in space.com about this. Apparently we are not going to find out for a few weeks.

Got to give them time to stir up the conspiracy theorists

I hope they have found water, fossils, or living bacteria.

I love the universe. its ace.

[dhodg]

This could be awesome, but usually big news to scientists means nothing to us mere mortals

[J_M_Franklin]

As this Guy took a week to write his article and publish it I would suggest that the big news is all the stories about the martian atmosphere that where doing the rounds in the science media last week and over the weekend. To researchers this news would seem like a massive story, but to others it would not be so "big", rather innocuous in fact.

I am sure if they do find something massive there will be a NASA press conference pretty darned quick as this would justify their attempts to reverse the funding cuts for mars research the Oh bummer administration put in place via congress earlier in the year.

[VigdisVZ]

I've seen the story in several different news channels now.

Willing to be it some chemical stuff that hints this or that.

The hype surrounding it will be counter productive since people will no doubt be disappointed.

[symesie04]

I know when the mathematics are churned out it would be incredibly improbable but is there a chance, just a chance the rover has stumbled across Lord Lucan?

[cowasaki]

I agree, it does seem a bit of a pointless announcement if they are not going to say anything.

[J_M_Franklin]

It would appear that it has found something.

"This data is gonna be one for the history books' date='" Curiosity chief scientist John Grotzinger, of Caltech in Pasadena. "It's looking really good."

Indeed, Grotzinger confirmed to SPACE.com that the news will come out at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, which takes place Dec. 3-7 in San Francisco. [/quote']

If the announcement is going to be made at the Geophys union I would suggest it's possibly evidence that Mars is active and may have had a magnetic past...if it was about life then I don't think they would release it at this forum and it would be a big NASA announcement..role on the meeting of the Union..