Comments on: New data suggests Gale Crater was never filled with lake https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/new-data-suggests-gale-crater-was-never-filled-with-lake/ Fri, 13 Aug 2021 21:38:05 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Greg the Geologist https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/new-data-suggests-gale-crater-was-never-filled-with-lake/#comment-1172433 Fri, 13 Aug 2021 21:38:05 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=78094#comment-1172433 Keep in mind the “chemical index of alteration” is based on earth processes. They may be correct, but I suspect much more data will be required until we can ‘calibrate’ such an index for Martian conditions.

]]> By: wayne https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/new-data-suggests-gale-crater-was-never-filled-with-lake/#comment-1169005 Mon, 09 Aug 2021 15:02:28 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=78094#comment-1169005 Max-
Good stuff!

—–

“A Princess of Mars” (1912)
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Chapter XX: “Inside the Atmosphere Factory”
https://www.erbzine.com/craft/m1pm.html#Chapter%20XX

]]> By: John https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/new-data-suggests-gale-crater-was-never-filled-with-lake/#comment-1168740 Mon, 09 Aug 2021 03:02:51 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=78094#comment-1168740 There is a lot of debate about ancient microscopic Earth fossils, it’s very difficult to say what exactly they are, how old they are, and even sometimes if they are life.

I think ancient Mars fossils would show life existed there in the past, but not necessarily that any extant life found originated there. Especially if we find something that looks un-alien.

]]> By: Michael McNeil https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/new-data-suggests-gale-crater-was-never-filled-with-lake/#comment-1168727 Mon, 09 Aug 2021 02:31:14 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=78094#comment-1168727 To repeat Zubrin’s point: look for fossils from earlier times on Mars. If the present life we find there is native, there are bound to be such.

]]> By: John https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/new-data-suggests-gale-crater-was-never-filled-with-lake/#comment-1168722 Mon, 09 Aug 2021 02:13:32 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=78094#comment-1168722 I used to not think much of panspermia. It always seemed like they couldn’t figure out how biogenesis occurred, so they kicked the can down the road to another place.

A book “A new history of life” by Peter Ward (I believe) and someone else, had some interesting points about life possibly starting on Mars. It involved lower temperatures, and a mechanism to synthesize a critical chemical; both of which would have been hard to find on the Earth of that era. Mars’s lower gravity also meant that things could get blasted off planet without getting sterilized as the late heavy bombardment waned.

So maybe, if something’s still alive on Mars- it could be very similar to Earth life. And if they did discover microbes similar to any type of Earth’s, how would you know where they originated? They could find some odd form of Archaea that could live in both places.

]]> By: Michael McNeil https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/new-data-suggests-gale-crater-was-never-filled-with-lake/#comment-1168626 Sun, 08 Aug 2021 21:44:43 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=78094#comment-1168626 As Robert Zubrin pointed out in his 3-part interview with Felix (mostly about Musk) last year, if we find life on Mars that’s basically identical to earthly life, plus there’s no fossil record of such life during the long ages preceding the first human expeditions, then it’ll be obvious that we brought it.

]]> By: Chris Lopes https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/new-data-suggests-gale-crater-was-never-filled-with-lake/#comment-1168563 Sun, 08 Aug 2021 19:49:14 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=78094#comment-1168563 “Don’t be surprised if a poorly sterilized container from China declares extent life! And it’s identical to ours!”

I believe you have just created the ultimate COVID-19 origin story.

]]> By: Max https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/new-data-suggests-gale-crater-was-never-filled-with-lake/#comment-1168320 Sun, 08 Aug 2021 08:29:55 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=78094#comment-1168320 The search for life will not be hindered.
Not one bit. There will always be “hopeful believers” and they will put their money (or your money) where their belief is.
As long as there is human hope, there will be a fire in the belly of all spacers to find the first extra terrestrial life.
Whether it’s on Mars, comet fragments on Mars, under the Martian ice cap, or other planets and their various moons.
Maybe the next interplanetary debris or comet that passes near earth.
Don’t be surprised if a poorly sterilized container from China declares extent life! And it’s identical to ours!

I still believe that Mars is too small and too far from the sun to have liquid water. Perhaps if it had a thicker atmosphere for a longer period of time, it had liquid water for that short time.
I believe it had a covering of ice similar to Europa and The Martian ice caps are all that’s left of the evaporated ice “above” ground.
Due to low gravity, The solar wind has blown away it’s excess atmosphere. The best evidence for this is the constant air pressure right at the threshold where water turns from a solid to a gas bypassing the liquid state.
Every time atmospheric pressure drops, sublimation takes place to maintain the air pressure balance.

Not to worry, there is still more carbon dioxide in the Martian ice caps, then there is in all of the Martian atmosphere.

]]> By: brightdark https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/new-data-suggests-gale-crater-was-never-filled-with-lake/#comment-1168210 Sun, 08 Aug 2021 01:34:44 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=78094#comment-1168210 How much a damper will this put on search life, past or present?

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