Possible life on Mars?

[jayem]

Reported on the LIVESCIENCE website: A peculiar leopard-spotted rock, found beside an ancient, dried-out river in Mars' Jezzero crater, contains some tantalizing clues of ancient life, NASA said.

NASA's Perseverance rover may have discovered evidence of past life on Mars after spotting a strange, speckled rock with signs of chemistry that could have supported ancient microbes.

Very much conjectural. But if true, it's uber cool.

NASA's Perseverance rover could have unearthed fossilized life

 

[Chesterton]

Very much conjectural. But if true, it's uber cool.

Why would it be cool?

 

[AV1611VET]

Why would it be cool?

Median surface temperature on Mars is 85 below!

 

[rturner76]

I heard that there may be some kind of microbial or bacterial life in the water (ice) there. I say leave it up there, no need to bring that "life" to Earth. There has been microbial life found surviving in boiling and frozen water. Leave it where it is or I fear some kind of pandemic or water contamination that we have no way to contain. Let the stuff on Earth stay on Earth and let Mars life stay up there. Give it a couple hundred years of more study at least. Also when we finally send people up there make sure they stay there so they don't bring anything back.

Dealing with different animal, vegetative, and microbial life from different conditions going to continents is hard enough to manage. Leave life from other planets on those other planets. We don't need it here.

 

[Chesterton]

Also when we finally send people up there make sure they stay there so they don't bring anything back.

I'm no ethicist, but I think it's very poor space exploration etiquette to send people on suicide missions without telling them.

 

[AV1611VET]

I'm no ethicist, but I think it's very poor space exploration etiquette to send people on suicide missions without telling them.

Funny how academia warns us to wipe our countertops and doorknobs, and to wash our hands singing Ten Little Fingers; then they [think they] find cooties on Mars and break into a happy dance.

 

[jayem]

Why would it be cool?

It's cool in the sense that fossils are cool. It's a thought-provoking finding which suggests that microbial life might have existed on Mars eons ago, when the planet was warmer and liquid water may have been present. Think of it as extraterrestrial paleontology.

 

[rturner76]

I'm no ethicist, but I think it's very poor space exploration etiquette to send people on suicide missions without telling them.

THen they should tell them "You are going and not coming back.." If they are still interested, they know what they are in for.

 

[Occusis]

I personally, think that life needs a stable, warm enviroment over time. And plants to use for protein, and temperate water to form in. Mars has nothing, except some water. There`s nothing for life to feed on, if there`s some bacterie there or something else, it must have come from another source then to begin with. But, we haven`t been on Mars until now

 

[RileyG]

That's really interesting! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Blaise N]

Reported on the LIVESCIENCE website: A peculiar leopard-spotted rock, found beside an ancient, dried-out river in Mars' Jezzero crater, contains some tantalizing clues of ancient life, NASA said.

NASA's Perseverance rover may have discovered evidence of past life on Mars after spotting a strange, speckled rock with signs of chemistry that could have supported ancient microbes.

Very much conjectural. But if true, it's uber cool.

NASA's Perseverance rover could have unearthed fossilized life

Hey listen if life was on Mars, awesome ! If there still is even in microscopic form, awesome! As long as it’s not hostile like John carpenters “the thing”

 

[Bob Crowley]

I'm not very interested in the possibiliy of microbial "life on Mars". I'm more interested in whether we can settle on Mars.

Then there really will be "life on Mars".

 

[mindlight]

Reported on the LIVESCIENCE website: A peculiar leopard-spotted rock, found beside an ancient, dried-out river in Mars' Jezzero crater, contains some tantalizing clues of ancient life, NASA said.

NASA's Perseverance rover may have discovered evidence of past life on Mars after spotting a strange, speckled rock with signs of chemistry that could have supported ancient microbes.

Very much conjectural. But if true, it's uber cool.

NASA's Perseverance rover could have unearthed fossilized life

We have not found any chemistry that supports the notion of abiogenesis as how life arose on Earth yet. Looking for it on Mars seems a little hopeful given that.

 

[ozso]

I'm not very interested in the possibiliy of microbial "life on Mars". I'm more interested in whether we can settle on Mars.

Then there really will be "life on Mars".

Ground Control to Major Tom.

 

[Bob Crowley]

Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you-

 

[Bob Crowley]

I'm not very interested in the possibiliy of microbial "life on Mars". I'm more interested in whether we can settle on Mars.

Then there really will be "life on Mars".

There's been a lot of thought and experiment towards settling on Mars.

I'll be getting a bit long in the tooth by 2033, when NASA and CNSA (China National Space Agency) both hope to send crews and payloads to Mars.

A Comprehensive Blueprint for the Settlement of Mars

A new study considers all the challenges, benefits, and necessary steps for settling Mars.

www.universetoday.com

If there is ever a "War of the Worlds" involving Mars and Earth it will probably be a version of the Boston Tea Party - Martian Colonists telling the Earthlings they don't want any more convict labourers, and they're not paying taxation without representation.