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NASA has a big announcement to make


Dr. Doggo
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Maybe they've worked out where all the methane on Mars is coming from? That was potential proof of either microbes that produced methane or proof of geological processes under the surface producing the gas.

Either of those would be huge because the first one would prove life exists elsewhere in the universe (!!), and the second one would prove that Mars is still geologically active in some form.

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I wish they would just bring back manned space flight. We owe so many of the technological advances of the last 50 years on the space race to the moon. The push to land on Mars could really push the envelope of potential.

IIRC there's going to be a few manned missions to the Moon (not landing, just orbiting) in the next 10/15 years to test out the Orion space capsule in space. Then after that there's going to be a manned mission to land on an asteroid, to test out the spacesuits and stuff, roundabout the same time.

Then after all that, there's gonna be a few orbital manned missions to Mars, either one or two manned landings on Mars' moon Phobos, then if everything's ready there'll be a Mars landing. That'll all probably happen in the next 30 years.

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I bet they discovered the Face Thing of Mission To Mars

 

Then after all that, there's gonna be a few orbital manned missions to Mars, either one or two manned landings on Mars' moon Phobos, then if everything's ready there'll be a Mars landing. That'll all probably happen in the next 30 years.

Ahhh I'm so happy I'll (hopefully) live long enough to see at least some of this shit!

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I wish they would just bring back manned space flight. We owe so many of the technological advances of the last 50 years on the space race to the moon. The push to land on Mars could really push the envelope of potential.

ESA and Roscosmos have been running their own. I think one or both have plans to shoot for Mars within the next decade or two, too?

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Personally I'm a little confused why NASA would be trying to hype anything, but maybe that's what they've got to resort to to get funded these days.

Bingo. NASA's stuck in a perpetual budget-cutting cycle; even though they accomplish amazing feats like sending probes to Mars and Pluto, as soon as media attention subsides so does funding. This mislead them into gaming the hype machine. Remember "arsenic bacteria"? At first they went with the mystery box approach, leading to wild speculation in the press they may have found genuine alien life on another planet. They revealed a supposedly brand-new form of Earth life, a bacterium that worked by using the poisonous arsenic as its molecular building blocks. "If that's how weird known life is, then how weird must alien life be?"

Only this was based on incredibly shoddy research, and even after independent groups found as many holes in the paper as are in swiss cheese, they persisted their conclusions were right. Turns out it's just bacteria that can sequester large amounts in their bodies without dying because they live in an arsenic-rich environment, and that NASA sacrificed proper science in favor of PR.

This will hopefully not be that severe, but expect no major paradigm-shifting revelations. Probably has to do with a unique Martian feature experts had no explanation till now. Why is there so much mineral [X] in that spot? Why is that crater or valley shaped so weirdly?

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There are rumors seasonal flowing salt water was found. If this is the case, it could be possible there is life on Mars. Flowing salt water would pick up nutrients in the soil, so there could be simple prokaryotes living in the soil at these places. If not now, then possibly in the past.

Edited by Calemeyr
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Maybe the announcement is something like "we've discovered Mars at one point had enough oxygen to support life". That would be pretty cool, plus it increases the chances of fossilised bacteria being found with rovers or on future manned missions.

 

There are rumors seasonal flowing salt water was found. If this is the case, it could be possible there is life on Mars. Flowing salt watwr would pick up nutrients in the soil, so there could be simple prokaryotes living in the soil at these places. If not now, then possibly in the past.

Ooh, that would be cool! If that's true I wonder where the water's coming from. If it's underground I wonder if there's a possibility that life like that could be living there, shielded a bit from the radiation.

I dunno, I know nothing about how stuff like that works so I'm probably entirely wrong.

Edited by Sutekh_the_Steak
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Someone on reddit was claiming that most of the people involved were geologists for whatever that's worth. Personally I'm a little confused why NASA would be trying to hype anything, but maybe that's what they've got to resort to to get funded these days.

the moon landing was kind of a big deal...

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The moon landings were in '69 and the 70s. The Space Shuttle system was a disaster overall. 

NASA is underfunded from where it ought to be, and is underfunded from where it is in public perception.

well i don't fucking know, maybe we've discovered countless fucking planets and landed on fucking mars.......

here's a quick recap of 2013 http://www.nasa.gov/ames/12-incredible-accomplishments-of-nasa-ames-in-2013/#.VgdmTfRUUhk (which is 2 years old btw)

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We should build a secret base on Mars and live our Sci-fi fantasies.

actually, Nasa does have plans to do something like that once the first man lands on mars.

i dont know the details too much but they are supposedly going to send up about 30 to mars and they would be constantly sending supplies to them. 

 

edit: My mistake, turns out is actually a company called mars  one who would like to achieve this feat.

Edited by shadowsinhiding
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actually, Nasa does have plans to do something like that once the first man lands on mars.

i dont know the details too much but they are supposedly going to send up about 30 to mars and they would be constantly sending supplies to them. 

 

edit: My mistake, turns out is actually a company called mars  one who would like to achieve this feat.


NASA does have tentative plans to have the capability to send humans into Mars orbit, Mars's moons, or even onto the planet itself, by the 2030s, so you aren't too far off.

Mars One is pretty off, though.

 

Also, if NASA made some choice discoveries regarding methane, ESA is going to throw a hissy fit. They've been planning missions dedicated to examining the atmosphere of Mars and that will completely undercut the "cool" discoveries they hoped to have under their name.

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Also, if NASA made some choice discoveries regarding methane, ESA is going to throw a hissy fit. They've been planning missions dedicated to examining the atmosphere of Mars and that will completely undercut the "cool" discoveries they hoped to have under their name.

Aw poor ESA. :c

Still though, ESA's always going to be thought of and remembered as the people who managed to orbit and land on a fucking comet, and to have landed on Titan with the Huygens probe. That's an awesome legacy to have.

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Aw poor ESA. :c

Still though, ESA's always going to be thought of and remembered as the people who managed to orbit and land on a fucking comet, and to have landed on Titan with the Huygens probe. That's an awesome legacy to have.

ESA will get to go back to not even being known by most Americans when Mars Redirect happens. Don't worry.

The same thing happened with the USSR and the Moon. They may put robots on it, but NASA puts 'Muricans on it, and that's what counts.

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Just need to reduce the cost to orbit. Come on, Orbital Elevator!

I still question the logistics of that. Everything I have seen about it makes it a literal space elevator. We have trouble enough protecting large buildings and monuments. How the fuck are we going to protect and maintain something so big that it pops off the Earth like a big zit?

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I still question the logistics of that. Everything I have seen about it makes it a literal space elevator. We have trouble enough protecting large buildings and monuments. How the fuck are we going to protect and maintain something so big that it pops off the Earth like a big zit?

No Fly Zones strictly enforced, secure checkpoints. Also it'd have to start at a high point, so you've limited access already.

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