embedded in the floating world
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nmazca.blog embedded in the floating world |
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"Speaking this month at the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences meeting in Louisville, Ky., Dr. Michael Mumma, a senior scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., reported three years of observations had provided strong evidence for methane. "'We are 99 percent confident,' Dr. Mumma said. 'It surprised all of us, actually. We really are still scrambling to understand what it means.' [It means something is or recently was breathing... or, as a friend suggested, farting. --Ed.]  "Methane... is fragile in air and easily broken apart when hit by ultraviolet light. Calculations indicate that any methane in the Martian air must have been put there within the past 300 years. "That then raises the question: What is putting methane into the Martian air? "There seem to be only two plausible explanations. One is geothermal chemical reactions involving water and heat like those that occur on Earth in the hot springs of Yellowstone or at hydrothermal vents on the bottoms of oceans. "That would intrigue planetary geologists. Although frozen water is known to exist, there are no signs that any volcanism has occurred there for millions of years. Also, an instrument aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey looked for warm spots on Mars' surface and did not find any. "The other, more intriguing, is life. On Earth, a class of bacteria known as methanogens breathes out methane as a waste product. The discovery, if confirmed, suggests that perhaps Martian life arose on a presumably more hospitable Mars billions of years ago and survives to this day underground, beneath the cold, dry landscape."  And here's this from the same day's edition: NASA Chief Sees Mandate for Bush Space Program (again with the mandates!) "The budget increase Congress just voted for NASA is a clear endorsement of President Bush's plan to send astronauts back to the moon and later Mars, the head of the space agency said Tuesday. Sean O'Keefe, the NASA administrator, said the budget victory over the weekend was 'as strong an endorsement as anyone could have hoped' for the national space policy outlined by the president in January, which involves finishing the space station, retiring the shuttle fleet and refocusing the program on exploration." See also: Mars in the Mind of Earth: A Bibliography of Terran Works about the Planet Mars Mars in the mind |
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