Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like this last week has been particularly full of Mars-related news developments, and the rumors and reversals border on the Britney Spears-esque. It’s enough to induce whiplash.
Let’s start with this story, a hush-hush report brought to our attention by one Matt Brown. According to the article,
“The White House has been alerted by NASA about plans to make an announcement soon on major new Phoenix lander discoveries concerning the ‘potential for life’ on Mars…”
And this was after the lander had reported its water ice findings. What could these top secret results be?! Were there in fact little green men walking around? Internet chat rooms buzzed with speculation…or at least I assume they did.
This whole uproar has now been followed with a complete denial by none other than Phoenix PI Peter Smith. Smith said the notion of a clandestine meeting was “not true, MECA results have not been discussed at the White House. There is no one who knows either on the [Phoenix] project in Tucson or at [NASA] HQ who knows where this information came from.” So there you go: looks like it was much ado about nothing. (Conspiracy theorists, start your engines.)
Phoenix self portrait.
Last week, the Phoenix team announced that the lander had tasted water ice , which some observers have pointed out marks roughly the fourth time water has been proven to exist on the Red Planet for the first time. With this latest evidence, however, speculation raged on about the potential for life, fueled by the juicy rumors of the White House meeting.
But today, another 180: soil samples appear to be peppered with perchlorate, an oxidizing salt that is toxic to life. Depressed headlines moped “Toxin in soil may mean no life on Mars.” Perchlorate has never been seen elsewhere on Mars and just so happens to be a component of rocket fuel. Coindicendally, Phoenix was the first lander in decades to make a powered descent, meaning it fired retro rockets just as it touched down. Seems pretty likely to me that we’re just seeing contamination from the thrusters, though future analysis will put that theory to the test. Either way, brace yourself for another bold headline about life on Mars and/or deathly toxins on Mars soon.
So what to make of this roller coaster ride of Mars news? While the scientist in me cringes at the sight of huge generalizations (such as the fact that a few perchlorate molecules at the Phoenix site preclude life across the entire planet), the science advocate in me cheers. I do think we need to stay on message in order to build public trust in scientists, but these stories reflect, sustain, and build the public interest in Mars and the potential for life. Once rumors and denials get involved, you know you’ve got a relatively interested audience. The key moving forward is to respect that interest and cultivate it in sustainable, respectful, and factually accurate way.
The self-portrait suggests that Phoenix is entering its Florence Nightingale period. Compare and contrast:
Hmmm, a striking similarity – where has this been in the news cycle?!
It is pretty difficult to keep these news from becoming sensational or over-blown. Really hilarious revelation about the perchlorate in the soil actually being derived from rocket fuel. I hadn’t heard that before.
My friends and I have been speculating on the next steps NASA will take with the water samples from Mars. DNA sequencing or amino acid analysis seem obvious. Do you know what’s in the plans?
Finally, I am yet again going to expose my ignorance. I have seen the photo of the Phoenix on a few sites now, but can’t seem to figure out what I am looking at. Can you break it down for me a little?
Hey Anna – not entirely sure what Phoenix is planning with its frozen aquifer, but none of its instruments are particularly well-suited to do anything overly biological. DNA sequencing on a rover would be amazing, but sadly you must find the DNA first. Phoenix will continue to look at the chemistry – things like pH, dissolved ions, etc., and longer term things will probably move more toward the astrobiological end of the spectrum. The only reason water is so exciting is because it might mean life, so having “followed the water,” the next plan is to look for life, with things particularly suited to do so. ExoMars has a couple promising instruments….
As for the disorienting Phoenix photo, it’s taken by the PanCam – cameras on the top of the mast. But it can’t “tilt its neck” all the way down, so to speak, so that’s the blacked out part. Kind of like trying to look at your own neck. Everything else is a bit warped because as you go out from the lander, there’s more and more area to cover, but this image is showing it over the same amount of 2-D space. Not sure if that makes sense, but it’s a little similar to how maps are distorted near the poles. Greenland really isn’t that big.
Ok, I get it now. Thanks for the photo breakdown :)
I didn’t really think that the probe would be able to do the sequencing on site (though that would be supremely cool). I was assuming that the samples would make their way back to Earth at some point, to be analyzed on a more biological level. Is that something that is going to happen?
Ah, the sample return mission – the holy grail of mars science…at least until people get there. There are plans, though no time too soon unfortunately. It’s phenomenally complicated logistically and pretty expensive, but it’s slated to go down in about 2018 or so, with both NASA and the European Space Agency planning such missions.
Couldn’t they use a human control on earth, and test unknown samples for various properties by analysis with the Differential Scanning Calorimeter?
Or with the Microscopy Electrocochemistry and Conductivity Analyser?
Sensors can sniff out, can’t they?
I suppose that was somewhat dense of me. So the Phoenix is not coming back. That actually makes sense. Getting to Mars is remarkable, getting back back would be fantastical. So will the probe live out its days on Mars and keep transmitting until in runs out of… whatever powers it? (it’s got solar panels though, right?). What are the future plans for the probe?