Awesome Photo Of Martian Water Ice

Rocker5150 · Post by **Rocker5150** » 2005-07-21 10:40am

Yesterday on the NASA astronomy picture of the day site was an incredible shot of a crater on Mars with a patch of water ice in it. My friend was just saying the other day that he didn't believe water was on Mars (despite the visable polar caps!?). After seeing this photo, his opinion changed fast! Now if we can just land there and start using the Martian resources.......

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050720.html

-Kevin

Zoink · Post by **Zoink** » 2005-07-21 01:04pm

That's a rink Canadians would call an 'away game'.

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2005-07-21 01:09pm

It'd be cool if some Martian creature was cryogenically frozen in that ice, and we accidentally awakened it. Bingo, instant Alien remake. The creature might have a natural antifreeze in its blood to save it.

Chmee · Post by **Chmee** » 2005-07-21 01:09pm

Looks like god smote Mars with a snowball!

Quade should hurry up and turn on that machine so we have breathable air.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-07-21 07:52pm

Interesting indeed. Now if only we could take some damn samples.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2005-07-21 08:26pm

Not to get too political, but nuclear power for spacecraft so we can have broadband-speed floods of pictures and electricty to run instruments magnitudes more powerful than current ones!!

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2005-07-21 08:47pm

Wow. 200m thick ice sheet.

Pity we can't get Spirit and Opportunity over there!

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2005-07-21 09:13pm

Spirit and Opportunity have done a LOT for what they were intended for. They were funded under the requirement of only 3 months of opperational status. They have been on Mars for more then 14 months now and working near flawlessly. These two probes have given us so much information about Mars. I can hardly wait for the eventual second NOVA special on the two rovers. Already saw one, but so much more is being learned.

dragon · Post by **dragon** » 2005-07-21 09:40pm

Alyeska wrote:Spirit and Opportunity have done a LOT for what they were intended for. They were funded under the requirement of only 3 months of opperational status. They have been on Mars for more then 14 months now and working near flawlessly. These two probes have given us so much information about Mars. I can hardly wait for the eventual second NOVA special on the two rovers. Already saw one, but so much more is being learned.

One thing we should see with newer probes is that due to better engineering and design they will outlast the designed lifetime. Look at not only Spirit and Opportunity but also Deep Impoact and Deep Space 1 and several other that all have lasted longer than thought they would. Matter of fact NASA is already talking with ESA on a mission to the poles for samples. Granted that will be a few years done the road.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2005-07-21 09:51pm

Alyeska wrote:Spirit and Opportunity have done a LOT for what they were intended for. They were funded under the requirement of only 3 months of opperational status. They have been on Mars for more then 14 months now and working near flawlessly. These two probes have given us so much information about Mars. I can hardly wait for the eventual second NOVA special on the two rovers. Already saw one, but so much more is being learned.

Man...for all the flak they catch, NASA really pulls a home run now and then.

Heck, remember Voyager? Still goin'...

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2005-07-21 10:13pm

When NASA hits a homerun, they typicaly go out of the stadium. Look at the Apollo missions. Each one was progressively better then the last and we learned a LOT about the moon thanks to those landings. The Voyager program as well as some other deep space probes are further examples of just how well NASA can engineer something. And the twin rover missions were a needed morale boost for NASA after Columbia and we are learning a lot of stuff. Whats really cool is it looks like the rovers can handle at least 24 months. Thats 8 times the mission time then was originaly paid for in concept for the two rovers. They are providing a significant investment.

NASA can pull off miracles with shoe string budgets when they try.

Rocker5150 · Post by **Rocker5150** » 2005-07-21 10:15pm

"nuclear power for spacecraft so we can have broadband-speed floods of pictures and electricty to run instruments magnitudes more powerful than current ones!!"

I think I just read that NASA pulled funding from a project that was going to use a reactor in combination with an ion drive system. It sounded great and apparantly they were going to be able to run a much more powerful computer system. Hopefully they have an even better idea to persue, but it sure seemed promising.

-Kevin

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » 2005-07-21 10:23pm

NASA is supposed to be sending a rover equipped with an RTG in 2009. The thing will be the size of a minivan, and may be deployed using an unorthodox "skycrane" method. It involves dropping it from a craft hovering just above the surface, using cables.

Link.

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » 2005-07-21 10:25pm

Related space.com article.

Erik von Nein · Post by **Erik von Nein** » 2005-07-22 12:46am

Well, we now know where we'll be landing our first colonization party. Perfect place to harvest water, oxygen and hydrogen fuel plus a fun skating rink. Booyah!

Seriously, that's an awesome find. It seems like there's all sorts of great space stories and discoveries happening this year, what with the huge ass solid-core planet, the galaxy ejecting a star and other sorts of goodies.

spikenigma · Post by **spikenigma** » 2005-07-22 01:14am

some people have speculated that water occasionally bubbles up from beneath the surface of mars and then evaporates., I wonder if that's how this wtaer ice patch got here?

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2005-07-22 08:06am

spikenigma wrote:some people have speculated that water occasionally bubbles up from beneath the surface of mars and then evaporates., I wonder if that's how this wtaer ice patch got here?

Sublimation on Mars happens constantly - that's how the dust storms occur, water evaporates out of the ground on very hot days (for Mars) and the rising water vapour disturbs the sand causing dust devils to form. Perhaps some sort of smaller impact or seismic activity disturbed the surface enough to release water from underground pockets or exposing the cryosphere and then the shadow of the crater wall prevented it from freezing after it collected.

As an aside, water can also be released from underground aquifers by earthquakes or volcanic intrusions resulting in massive releases of pressurised water which can flow at high speed for hours before finally being depleted by boiling off into the atmosphere. Example: Aromatum Chaos.

FSTargetDrone · Post by **FSTargetDrone** » 2005-07-26 03:00pm

Ah, the wonders of science. And just yesterday there was an interesting letter to the editor in the paper here from a obviously up-to-date individual (who was insistent on stressing the importance of intelligent design in schools and the legitimacy of a global flood on Earth), claiming there was no water on Mars, nor any evidence of water on Mars.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2005-07-27 01:11am

FSTargetDrone wrote:Ah, the wonders of science. And just yesterday there was an interesting letter to the editor in the paper here from a obviously up-to-date individual (who was insistent on stressing the importance of intelligent design in schools and the legitimacy of a global flood on Earth), claiming there was no water on Mars, nor any evidence of water on Mars.

Why not send a letter to the ed. with a link to the photo, then?

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Awesome Photo Of Martian Water Ice

Awesome Photo Of Martian Water Ice

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