Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Phoenix Finds Liquid Water on Mars


Rick Sterling, one of our readers (and a frequent source of “heads-up’s” from his constant data mining of the internet) recently sent us a copy of a paper that declares that globules photographed on one of struts of NASA’s Mars Phoenix lander are in fact liquid water. As anybody who reads this blog (or Dark Mission) knows, my co-author and I have long argued that Mars is suitable for liquid water, even in its currently dormant icy state.

Not only did we successfully predict exactly where NASA would find subsurface water ice based on our steadfastly ignored Mars Tidal Model, we have long held that dark streaks frequently photographed on the Martian sands are from bursting pockets of liquid water.

NASA has maintained that Mars cannot support water in a liquid state since water vapor in the Martian atmosphere was measured by the Viking Orbiter Mars Atmospheric Water Detection instrument. The findings indicated the planet’s atmosphere was too thin and its temperatures too low to allow water in a liquid state. However, Dr. Gil Levin, the principal investigator on the Viking Labeled Release experiment, has argued for years that NASA’s assessment is based on a faulty assumption: namely that the planet’s thin layer of water vapor is evenly distributed throughout the atmosphere. Levin argues that it is far more likely that the water is concentrated in lower three feet of the atmosphere, creating an environment where pressure and temperatures can exceed the triple point of water, at least some of the time. This conclusion supports his long held contention that the positive life signs detected in the LRE were legitimate indications of current microbial life on the Red Planet.

Liquid water is of course crucial to the existence of life in any environment, and NASA has dragged its feet for years on reaching the conclusion that should now be obvious: Mars not only has liquid water at the surface; it has life. However, it also clear that such an admission is now only a matter of time as we follow the “timed release aspirin” model of such revelations that the Brookings Report recommended.

One other aspect of this paper that Rick pointed out was this statement:

“… brines have a large dielectric constant that can cause attenuation of radar signals as that measured by Mars orbiters…”

Now that’s really interesting, because we didn’t know that there were radar signals measured by the Mars orbiters. I wonder; what else might this radar data show?

We’ll see.

So once again, we see there is no discovery about Mars that we can’t figure out years before they’ll admit to it.

Now, when will they get around to admitting Mars was once a moon of a long missing planet? At this rate, not for decades, if ever.

Here’s a link to the Space.com article.

7 comments:

Rick Sterling said...

Here are some important questions. When did NASA "discover" liquid water on Mars? The recent report by the Phoenix Mars scientists states that NASA has radar data verifying liquid water all over Mars. When did NASA acquire that radar data. Was it shortly after the MRO turned on its radar instrument? Was it several years ago? Why did the Phoenix scientists have to report such important radar data? Didn't the MRO scientists think they had an obligation to report one of the most important scientific discoveries in history? Secondly, in 2002 "The Smithsonian Book of Mars" was published. Its author was Dr. Joseph M. Boyce. Dr. Boyce was the NASA Mars Exploration Program Scientist from 1985-2000. On page 296 of his book Dr. Boyce states,"In a much slower variation of the concept of terraforming, oxygen-producing algae could be introduced in the polar regions and at the seeps in the equatorial regions of Mars where water and water ice are available at the surface". This comment by Dr. Boyce totally supports Richard C. Hoagland's July,2000 press release that stated that the seeps in the equatorial regions of Mars were the result of liquid water flowing on the Martian surface. Again, I ask. When did NASA "discover" liquid water on Mars?

Unknown said...

Hi Mike. Which day was that Lasco C3 image of the sun for?

Mike Bara said...

6/02/1998. Pretty incredible huh? Metric tensor torsion physics caught on camera...

Gort said...

Are you sure it wasn't a male dog marking its territory on the Phoenix lander's leg?

Maybe a Martian Husky. LOL

Gort

Unknown said...

its amazing. Imagine the amount of energy released to humanity at that moment

marsandro said...

Hi Rick,

Just wait until NASA "discovers"
Lake Steadman!

:-)

Hathor -- In a Martian bathing suit
(WOO-WOO!!!!!)

;-)

marsandro said...

Hi Mike & Quinton,

Did you notice the...

..."Starship Enterprise" in the upper
right-hand corner of the picture? :-p

:-)

Hathor -- The Original Trekkie

;-)

P.S.: Or, come to that---
the "Sun Cruiser" at the lower left?

:-))))