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Phoenix - The Case for Water
NASA announced recently that the Phoenix lander, launched on a mission to the northern polar region of the Red Planet in August 2007, had detected water ice during the first of many chemical analyses planned during the three month mission. In addition, initial mineralogy experiments have revealed a striking similarity between Martian soil and the soil found in the Antarctic region of Earth. The significance of these findings cannot be overstated. Liquid water and chemical energy are essential for life, and in the presence of these two, as Dr. Wesley Huntress once remarked: "Life may be a cosmic imperative."
As ancient life on Mars would have required a source of water, water
alone is not enough to establish habitability. But together, water and
Martian soil that is conducive to the growth of organisms, are
important clues to the ability to construct and establish viable human
settlements on Mars.
There will be an update on the Phoenix mission from members of the Phoenix science team at the 11th Annual International Convention in Boulder this August 14-17, and a presentation on the Mars impact findings recently released by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Phoenix mission is a precursor to NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) which is scheduled to land on Mars in October 2010. MSL will have the most sophisticated tools to date to detect microfossils, as well as the remnant biosignatures of organic (carbon-containing) compounds, and atmospheric gases that may indicate past biological activity, and thus the potential habitability of the planet.
As the global team of astrobiologists and the students of Spaceward Bound examine microbialites and perform geochemical analyses at Pavilion Lake in British Columbia this summer, much of what they discover about Earth's early biosphere may ultimately have significant parallels to what may be found on Mars in 2010 and during future missions.
As we get closer to confirmation that Mars once sustained biological activity, we in turn confirm that life on Earth may not be unique in the universe. Perhaps in our search for life on Mars we will indeed stumble upon a "microbial Garden of Eden" as proposed by Dr. Robert Zubrin in The Case for Mars. The idea that life may exist elsewhere in the universe is an intriguing idea, one that is ripe for a philosophical discussion with Dr. Guy Consolmagno of the Vatican Observatory, and Ted Peters, Director of the Institute for Theology and Ethics at our upcoming Eleventh Annual Convention in Boulder in August.
Join us at the Convention in August for a thoughtful and dynamic discussion with these distinguished scientists on the topics mentioned here, and others that may be of interest to you.
There will be an update on the Phoenix mission from members of the Phoenix science team at the 11th Annual International Convention in Boulder this August 14-17, and a presentation on the Mars impact findings recently released by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Phoenix mission is a precursor to NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) which is scheduled to land on Mars in October 2010. MSL will have the most sophisticated tools to date to detect microfossils, as well as the remnant biosignatures of organic (carbon-containing) compounds, and atmospheric gases that may indicate past biological activity, and thus the potential habitability of the planet.
As the global team of astrobiologists and the students of Spaceward Bound examine microbialites and perform geochemical analyses at Pavilion Lake in British Columbia this summer, much of what they discover about Earth's early biosphere may ultimately have significant parallels to what may be found on Mars in 2010 and during future missions.
As we get closer to confirmation that Mars once sustained biological activity, we in turn confirm that life on Earth may not be unique in the universe. Perhaps in our search for life on Mars we will indeed stumble upon a "microbial Garden of Eden" as proposed by Dr. Robert Zubrin in The Case for Mars. The idea that life may exist elsewhere in the universe is an intriguing idea, one that is ripe for a philosophical discussion with Dr. Guy Consolmagno of the Vatican Observatory, and Ted Peters, Director of the Institute for Theology and Ethics at our upcoming Eleventh Annual Convention in Boulder in August.
Join us at the Convention in August for a thoughtful and dynamic discussion with these distinguished scientists on the topics mentioned here, and others that may be of interest to you.
