The Mars Thread

[RJDiogenes]

As long as it wasn't Dejah Thoris.

[RJDiogenes]

Here is an interesting article about a global dust storm on Mars. The most interesting thing is the picture from Curiosity that actually shows the storm from the surface.

[Lupine]

Looks rather like some of the dust storms out my way. I guess if you've seen some dust storm, you've seen them all.

[RJDiogenes]

Except on Mars they're pink-- and cover the whole planet.

[Lupine]

There might be a lake on Mars!

[RJDiogenes]

I saw that on CNN today! Amazing. I'm not sure if it's a good bet for life, though, because the article says it's under the pole and the temperature would be far below freezing. It would have to be pretty salty to stay liquid. But it's possible that extremophiles could have evolved from ancestors that lived in a more moderate climate. Or maybe the liquid water is the result of geothermal activity, which would be pretty amazing also-- I wonder if they could tell from this particular set of data.

Or would that be areothermal activity?

[Lupine]

Lake Vostok is reportedly below freezing and there is life down there, so it's not entirely impossible for this new Martian lake.

[huggle]

bacterial life would be absolutely possible under such circumstances. There are plenty of examples on our own planet. The only problem is that proteins etc. need volcanic heat to form spontaneousely. Undersea volcanos are also necessary to provide an energy source for the bacteria. On our own planet that's mostly iron sulfide. On Mars that would be available so that under similar circumstances we might presume evolution to take similar paths.
Or in other words: if there are volcanos in the lake under that ice shield, there might be something like our archaebacteria. If there is no volcanic activity it's not very likely that life has developed there. Still, there would be a small chance that life that had developed on the planet's surface has taken refuge there. No higher life, though, but only salt-loving bacteria. For other organisms the conditions would be too extreme.
Of course, there's always the theoretical possibility of silicone-based lifeforms, possibly even something like Star Trek's Crystalline Entity. After all, there's no reason to assume that life in this universe is restricted to only the sort we know.

[RJDiogenes]

Lake Vostok is reportedly below freezing and there is life down there, so it's not entirely impossible for this new Martian lake.

Yeah, if life appeared when conditions were more moderate, it could definitely evolve to live in such a lake.

Still, there would be a small chance that life that had developed on the planet's surface has taken refuge there. No higher life, though, but only salt-loving bacteria. For other organisms the conditions would be too extreme.

I'd be pretty pessimistic about multicellular life, since it took so long to appear on Earth. But, who knows, deep down in some caverns where it's insulated and warmer....

[RJDiogenes]

Looks like the Insight probe has beaten the odds and successfully landed on Mars. It send back its "success" signal about 3oclock this afternoon, along with a "wish you were here" photo. Hopefully all the instruments will check out okay. I was kind of nervous about this, considering the high casualty rate among Mars probes.

[Lupine]

They say it will be into next year before we start seeing results of the experiments.

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, I guess it will take about three months to set everything up. I'm wondering if the lander will be sending back pictures in the meantime, although they say that it landed in a pretty boring spot. Can any spot on Mars be boring, though?

[Lupine]

^It's quite an era when an alien planet can be boring.

[RJDiogenes]

Ayuh, just another ho-hum day on the Elysium Planitia.

[scottydog]

That landing was amazing. And when they drill down, I hope they find a Pirate's treasure chest. Wouldn't that be tough to explain?