Bottom line is if Edgar Mitchell says there are aliens, I believe him!

What do you guys think of the new Mars debate whether or not life was once on mars. There is enough ice there to sustain life, and a lot of articles keep talking about compounds that are found on mars that must have been produced as a byproduct of organic lifeforms. here’s just a random article i stumble uponed earlier

http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Martian_Soil_Good_Enough_For_Asparagus_999.html

dorge - 05 August 2008 10:58 PM

What do you guys think of the new Mars debate whether or not life was once on mars. There is enough ice there to sustain life, and a lot of articles keep talking about compounds that are found on mars that must have been produced as a byproduct of organic lifeforms. here’s just a random article i stumble uponed earlier

http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Martian_Soil_Good_Enough_For_Asparagus_999.html

The NYTimes had a good rundown on this today. See the article HERE (may require login). The upshot is that the discovery had nothing to do with potential life there.

A Finding, Perhaps, but Not of Mars Life

By KENNETH CHANG
Published: August 5, 2008
After a weekend of rumors that the White House had been informed of a major discovery bearing on the possibility of life on Mars, NASA held a hasty telephone news conference on Tuesday to announce the tentative identification of a class of minerals that has nothing directly to do with the habitability of Mars. ...

If I was to place a bet on whether or not we find evidence of life on Mars, my dollar would be put on that we will find this evidence. It’s very exciting and what’s it’s all about. My bet is largely an emotional one, but the prospects and discoveries thus far have me glad I’m alive to see this.

While water is necessary for life as we know it, there are so many other factors that my dollar would be on not finding life existing or having existed on Mars.  In addition, some perchlorate ions were found in the water.  They are’t sure yet whether they were indigenous or contamination from the probe.  However, if native to the planet, that would pretty much preclude organic life because it’s toxic and a great oxidizing agent.

Occam

I’m pretty split on Mars at the moment.  Realistically, I think the chances are pretty slim and I’m cautious about getting my hopes up.  But, that doesn’t stop me from getting all tingly inside when I think about it .  I hold out higher hopes for Europa if Mars turns out to be a dud.

My bet is that it will never be proven that there isn’t life on Mars!

Sounds like a Reba McEntire song:

Is there life on Mars
So much we haven’t done
Is there life beyond
Our planet and our zone
We’ve done what we should
Should we do what we dare
We don’t want to leave
We’re just wonderin
Is there life out there

A Voice of Sanity - 06 August 2008 07:49 PM

Sounds like a Reba McEntire song:

Is there life on Mars
So much we haven’t done
Is there life beyond
Our planet and our zone
We’ve done what we should
Should we do what we dare
We don’t want to leave
We’re just wonderin
Is there life out there

I was thinking Bowie

dmoreau - 06 August 2008 07:22 PM

My bet is that it will never be proven that there isn’t life on Mars!

Critical thinking fallacy - “proof of a negative.”  It’s the job of those who declare it to prove it.

While I feel it’s extremely likely that there is life on other planets in the universe, I doubt that the conditions on the other planets in our solar system just aren’t near enough to what’s required for life to form.

Occam

Occam - 07 August 2008 10:02 AM

dmoreau - 06 August 2008 07:22 PM

My bet is that it will never be proven that there isn’t life on Mars!

Critical thinking fallacy - “proof of a negative.”  It’s the job of those who declare it to prove it.

While I feel it’s extremely likely that there is life on other planets in the universe, I doubt that the conditions on the other planets in our solar system just aren’t near enough to what’s required for life to form.

Occam

I thought my sarcasm was obvious!

Sorry, missed it.  Must be too early in the morning for me. :(

Occam

NASA - Mission News - 8/5/08 - Phoenix Mars Team Opens Window on Scientific Process

Just to give everyone the actual Phoenix site, other than the NASA one:

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/