MAIN ARTICLE: Water on Mars: New Research.
Poll Results: An average turnout for yesterday's poll. Scroll down for the latest results, click subscribe for more space news.
Star Trek: In the News. Looking Back at the Original Star Trek Motion Pictures
Yesterday's Comments: "So what do they do with the crap? Burn it for fuel?" - NellaSelim
Today's Poll: How confident are you humanity will find water on Mars?
Water on Mars: Revisited.
Research Demonstrates Potential For Liquid Water On Present-Day Mars
"Researchers at the University of Arkansas have shown that salts formed from perchlorates discovered at the Phoenix landing site have the potential to be found in liquid solution under the temperature and pressure conditions on present-day Mars.
Research professor Vincent F. Chevrier and graduate students Jennifer Hanley and Travis S. Altheide report their findings in the current issue of Geophysical Research Letters. Their work provides the first demonstration of a potential stable liquid on present-day Mars in the immediate environment of the lander.
"Under real, observed Martian conditions, you can have a stable liquid," said Chevrier. The researchers studied the properties of sodium and magnesium perchlorates, salts detected by the Phoenix lander, under the temperature, pressure and humidity conditions found at the landing site. (Image - NASA, Phoenix lander)
The discovery of perchlorates on Mars by the Phoenix mission surprised scientists - the compounds are rare on Earth, found mostly in extremely arid environments such as the Atacama Desert in Chile.
The scientists studied the properties of these salts at varying temperatures using the Andromeda Chamber in the W.M. Keck Laboratory for Space Simulation - a chamber that can imitate the pressure and atmospheric conditions found on Mars. They also performed thermodynamic calculations to determine the state of salt and water combinations on the Martian surface and to see if there was any potential for liquid to be found."
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This looks like more confirmation of what was earlier reported (see "Scientists: Phoenix Mars Lander Found Liquid Water.", 'Americans in Space', Mar 10, 2009) by scientists about the Mars water issue. By trying to closely replicate conditions on Mars and discover the 'how' and 'what' the droplets on the Phoenix lander's leg.
Because Mars has such extreme tempretures liquid tends to evaporate or crystalize. So it has been a hard sell for liquids on Mars.
MORE PHOENIX:
Phoenix Mars Mission (Official site)
POLL RESULTS:
Yesterday's poll hit the average turnout of DKOS members. 68% of those who participated in the poll must have the pioneer or explorer's gene because they had no problems with a one way trip to Mars.
Looking Back at the Original Star Trek Motion Pictures
"You know what six movies average out to be really good? The first six Star Trek movies!" --Phillip J. Fry,
Ever since the release of the most recent Star Trek motion picture a couple of weeks ago, the original adventures of the crew of the USS Enterprise have been occupying more and more space in my mind. I had forgotten how big of a Star Trek fan I was (as opposed to my first and truest love, Star Wars) and this new movie had rekindled that fire that had almost winked out deep inside me. I'd seen all of the movies as a kid (the ones I was alive and conscious for, anyway) and once again about five or six years ago on a binge of Star Trek films I'd undertaken because I wanted to make sure all of the films were, indeed, better than the last couple of Next Generation-centric films.
Aside from repeated viewings of Star Treks II and VI (my two personal favorites) I'd only seen each only a small handful of times. I'd recently seen the first season of The Original Series on Blu-ray and was once more ready to dive in and watch the continuing adventures of the Enterprise crew on the silver screen. And since I can't see them on the silver screen, what better way than to watch them in all of their high definition glory in the Blu-ray format?"
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YESTERDAY'S COMMENTS:
"sorry my friend, this one's a no-go. The main problem with a one-way trip isn't death, it's ageing and dying without anyone to care for you at all.
It's the prospect of having to do something about a fellow crew member who gets Alzheimers and becomes a life-safety risk through the simple fact that s/he might try to go outside and leave the door open.
It's the prospect of a body you can't wash, a bottom you can't wipe, a book with critical instructions you can't see to read, and a few hundred other daily tasks that us younger'uns take for granted that older folks need assistance with.
It's the prospect of the last survivor dying in lonely anguish and knowing s/he won't be buried and there won't be a funeral.
Death by itself is something we all must come to terms with, to go in peace rather than kicking and screaming in a panic or a rage. But the prospect of the long drawn-out road to the longer dark night, absent a caring touch or even a conversation without mintes-long delay in each direction.... no. That's the way to end up with the last one or two pioneers going starkly insane while Earth watches helplessly and then swears off further forays into the "ice-cold blue abyss."
The time for one-way trips will be the time when there is continuity of life: an ongoing colony that offers the prospect at minimum of a dignified death and a proper burial and the knowledge that life will go on.
Between now and then it will have to be round trips, we will have to foot the bill, and those who go will at least know that their shortened lifespans will be accompanied, when they return, by those they love." - G2geek
"Do you think that the British subjects back in 1600's were not aware of the death rate in the American colonies? Those that immigrated to the colonies knew the risks and knew it would be a one-way trip. Hell, the entire colony of Roanoke Island disappeared in 1590 without a trace and the story became famous throughout Britain. That did not stop people. We all die alone. Death is not the issue. The real issue is that our nation has become risk adverse." - NellaSelim
"Well said The reality is that any exploration - or colonization entails risks and likely death. As you pointed out, the early colonization of North America was mostly a one-way trip, and the death rate was pretty high. The settling of the west had a pretty high death rate as well - I saw one passage that said something along the lines of there was the equivalent of a grave every yard along the Oregon trail. From history, you can draw a conclusion that the immediate result of most colonization efforts were to discover new and more horrible ways to die.
That's the part that's been glossed over for the most part. The other thing is that we have, as you said, become risk adverse. A lot of people don't realize just how dangerous the world really is -- and the universe. There are still those who will go anyways, no matter the risk." - Norbrook
"The idea of a one-way trip is intriguing, but I think we'd have a hard time finding people who would be willing to do it. Comparing it to the people who settled the American frontier is somewhat apt, but at the same time those people knew that they would have certain amenities that would make their long-term survival more likely: a breatheable atmosphere, abundant water, abundant plant and animal life, etc. Still, I think there would be at least a few who might be willing to make a go of it.
What I found really intriguing was the idea for an Orbital Gas Station. Getting private businesses to find ways to make money in space is a hugely important step in getting our species off this planet in a big way." - Big Tex
THE SPACE FUNNY PAGE:
Submitted to the comments section by JekyllnHyde.
TODAY'S POLL:
This is the second Mars - Water poll, I was just going to repeat the last one but decided on going with more subtle responses than a straight up and down y/n.
Read other NASA and Space diaries on DKOS.