Not that this is a big surprise....NASA has discovered that mountains on Mars during the summer cause liquid salt water to seem out and run down these mountains. Since water is extremely important for the existence of LIFE....NASA believes there may be Martian life existing in these areas that might dig deep into the Martian Soil and in effect hibernate during the winters and come out during the summers. The complexity of such life is up for debate but just the existence of flowing liquid salt water on Mars denotes the high probability that some form of life should exist there. It is well known that at one time in the distant past Mars had vast OCEANS of water as well there were lakes and rivers and streams which have carved the Martian surface much like waters on Earth have in the manner the Colorado River has carved the Grand Canyon as such evidence exists all over the Martian surface. Mars lost it's water when the interior one time spinning molten metal liquid core cooled down to a point it stopped spinning and when it stopped it also stopped generating the Electromagnetic Field that protected Mars from being bombarded by Solar and Cosmic Radiation. As UV-Light will split H20 into Hydrogen and Oxygen gases....so went the oceans and water of Mars as these gases over time where lost to space. AboveAlpha
I would really love it if they could get a Rover over to that area with a Mass Spectrometer and a few other good sensors to determine if life exists on Mars. Martian colonization is inevitable and we are capable even now of Genetically Engineering the Plants that we would seed Mars with that would convert CO2 into Oxygen. There will be people on Mars within 25 to 30 years and we could do it now but it is simply too expensive at the moment. With the development of much faster systems of propulsion as well as NASA's existing development of a Warp Drive which is strictly classified but has been documented and publicly announced....having space craft that could cut down travel time from several years to a month or even perhaps a week would make the difference. Being able to get to and from Mars in a few weeks as apposed to a few years makes all the difference in the world! AboveAlpha
If you said this because I posted that NASA is currently developing a WARP DRIVE....then the JOKE IS ON YOU!! LINK....http://io9.com/5963263/how-nasa-will-build-its-very-first-warp-drive AboveAlpha
Not really. We know NASA should be researching Hyperspace systems. Or Acknowledging Instantinaity as a substitute for Relativity. Although my favorite is Gravitational Drive. Warp Drive, what fantasy.
Persuade asteroids and meteors at Mars. Increasing its' mass would help it hold on to what water and atmosphere we might create there.
Explain to me in simple terms what 'liquid water' is please alpha? Also how you know the water which is 'running down the mountains of Mars' is salty??
It just means H2O in liquid form. Water on Mars is tricky because of a quirk in its thermodynamic behavior. It's boiling and freezing points are influenced by the atmospheric pressure. On Earth the average sea level pressure is about 1000mb. This yields a freezing and boiling point of 0C and 100C respectively at sea level. But, on Mars the average pressure is only about 6-7mb with locations exceeding 10mb in some places. This happens to be close to the triple point of water in which it can (in theory) exist in all 3 states (solid, liquid, gas) at the same time. During the Martian summer when temperatures are higher and in location where the pressure is higher liquid water can exist. The freezing and boiling points of water on Mars are both close to 0C!
Whatever the thermodynamic idiosyncrasies of water on Mars are, how can it reach boiling point when the Martian atmosphere is too cold for human habitation? And how can there be a 'sea level' when there's no Martian sea? And how do you know that the 'freezing and boiling points of water on Mars are both close to 0C - how can that be possible? Finally, how do you know all this stuff?
Liquid water actually "wants" to boil. The higher the temperature the more it "wants" to boil. The one thing keeping it from boiling is the pressure exerted on it from the outside. On Earth at seal level the pressure is high enough that water doesn't begin to boil until about 100C. On the top of Pike's Peak where pressure is much lower water boils at 80-85C. On Mars where the pressure is really low water boils at an even lower temperature...much lower. I think researchers arbitrarily decided on a 0 height reference. See the wikipedia article on the water triple point here. A first guess at the pressure on Mars is 6mb (600 Pa) and temperatures range from -80C to +20C. Lol. I didn't just know this. I had to look it up. I mean I knew about the water triple point and how it's freezing and boiling points change with pressure, but I had no idea about the particulars of Mars.
You mean that you had to 'look it up' in one of the many, and certainly increasing number of 'All you need to know about the universe . . . and more' magazines, which have duly reported what the space industry boffins around the world tell them? But thanks for replying - you seem to be a nice guy.
Meh. Its fairly common knowledge that the technology 'known' to the public is 20-50 years behind the technology that exists in secret government and corporate facilities. If FTL travel is possible, I'd put my money on it either already existing or being very close to existing.
'We'? So as well as being semi-retired in the military, you're something in NASA too are you, Alpha? You sure get around! Oh, and any Google links I find would be from NASA-affiliated publications don't you think?
Theres no money or power in NASA. NASA is limited (generally) to publicly available tech. The military, DARPA, and big govt contractors are where the 'good stuff' is kept.
Yep, there are lots of lucrative jobs-for-life in the various spin-offs of the space industry. That's why they keep 'discovering' things - to keep the show on the road?
Maybe there be Tardigrades on Mars too. Native or delivered from Earth circa 1975. Or maybe delivered to Mars from some other source such as a meteor. A meteor from where? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade Known to be able to survive open space travel, they can withstand temperatures of 304F. But, NASA only treated the Viking Landers at 232F. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_program Upon further analysis of Mars and its' water, there just may be water bears. Moi r > g Stop Creeping ism Across an immense, unguarded, ethereal border, Canadians, cool and unsympathetic, regard our America with envious eyes and slowly and surely draw their plans against us.
That astrophysicist is such a dreamer and that is exactly what's required to make leaps in innovation. This is the part I found interesting. It potentially addresses one of several issues that have to be addressed that occur to me to enable us to travel at great speeds. Hitting things comes to mind as an issue. In terms of the engine's mechanics, a spheroid object would be placed between two regions of space-time (one expanding and one contracting). A "warp bubble" would then be generated that moves space-time around the object, effectively repositioning it — the end result being faster-than-light travel without the spheroid (or spacecraft) having to move with respect to its local frame of reference. That's.. interesting
It seems reliant on negative mass particles which I thought were still theoretical- dont actually exist.
I thought Mars lost its atmosphere, and that's where water went. It takes lots of energy to split water into H2 and O2 - I know UV can purify water, I never heard of it splitting it into O2 and H2.
