HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROVERS
Burns Cliff
Originally uploaded by elvenstar522.
The success of the two Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity have revolutionized planetary science.
For the first time, its been confirmed beyond doubt that water flowed in liquid form on another planet besides earth. The implications for finding life elsewhere in the universe are staggering. From what scientists here on earth have discovered about life–that wherever life CAN arise, it will–the fact that Mars had water for tens of thousands of years (perhaps millions of years) could mean that some kind of life developed there.
Using ingenious instruments actually designed to “look inside” rocks, scientists have found minerals that could only have formed in the presence of water. Some of the rocks have revealed that water probably flowed intermittently for millions of years, giving rise to speculation that fossilized microorganisms may be present.
While there are no instruments currently capable of confirming such a hypothesis, NASA is planning a mission to actually bring Martian rocks back to earth. Scheduled for 2013, that mission will determine whether or not life actually existed at one time on the Red planet.
Blueberries
Originally uploaded by elvenstar522.
Hematite-rich rock modules dubbed “Blueberries” proving that water once ran in liquid form on Mars