Saturday, November 29, 2003
Nice article in the November 7th issue of Science, where Chris McKay and others published an experiment recreating the Viking life experiments using an arid South American desert as an analog. They found that the Viking experiments couldn't detect extremely low levels of life (In all the South American desert soil samples used, with hundreds of growth plates, and different growth conditions, the experiments only yielded 10 bacterial colonies), but the positive results from the Viking chemical metabolism detection experiments CAN be explained by nonbiological soil oxidant activity. The implicit conclusion of the paper was that the Viking experiments did NOT detect life, but that doesn't mean life doesn't exist on Mars. The paper is a good read, and y'all can find it, if you are on a campus library network, at:
(PDF) Mars-Like Soils in the Atacama Desert, Chile, and the Dry Limit of Microbial Life
Science 302 (5647)
(PDF) Mars-Like Soils in the Atacama Desert, Chile, and the Dry Limit of Microbial Life
Science 302 (5647)
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Caltech/JPL Mars Society
Does anyone know these guys? They are doing great at meeting people, presidential candidates and congresspeople!
Does anyone know these guys? They are doing great at meeting people, presidential candidates and congresspeople!
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Howard Dean on Mars - washingtonpost.com
"Dallas, Tex.: If elected President, what are your plans for NASA and the Space Program? Do you think it's time to retire the Shuttle and move on to bigger and better things, such as a human mission to Mars, or returning to the moon?
Howard Dean: I am a strong supporter of NASA and every government program that furthers scientific research. I don't think we should close the shuttle program but I do believe that we should aggressively begin a program to have manned flights to Mars. This of course assumes that we can change Presidents so we can have a balanced budget again."
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emphases added.
"Dallas, Tex.: If elected President, what are your plans for NASA and the Space Program? Do you think it's time to retire the Shuttle and move on to bigger and better things, such as a human mission to Mars, or returning to the moon?
Howard Dean: I am a strong supporter of NASA and every government program that furthers scientific research. I don't think we should close the shuttle program but I do believe that we should aggressively begin a program to have manned flights to Mars. This of course assumes that we can change Presidents so we can have a balanced budget again."
---
emphases added.
It wooooooooooooooorks! *does a ilttle dance*
Testing, testing.
Monday, November 24, 2003
"Exploring Mars" on KUOW Seattle 94.9
More public interest! The first public caller on the show asked "when are humans going to mars?"
More public interest! The first public caller on the show asked "when are humans going to mars?"
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
The Planetary Society - NASA Should Aim for Mars
Take Action Here!
Send the President a Message: NASA Should Go to Mars!
The future of the United States space program is at stake. Its human space flight program is grounded, and the purposes that it serves are being questioned, in Congress, in the media, and in the general public. The Bush Administration is now conducting a high level review of U.S. space policy, with the goal of issuing a Presidential Directive, perhaps in a few weeks. It may set the course for human space flight, and all space exploration, for a generation.
This is the time - perhaps the only time for the foreseeable future - to influence U.S. space policy and the course of space exploration. We urge our members and all those who care about our future in space to write the President now.
As members of The Planetary Society, and as visitors to our web site, you are familiar with our position. You may read about it in the statements delivered by the Society's Chairman of the Board, Bruce Murray, and Society President, Wesley T. Huntress, Jr. to the House Science Committee. They urged that America's human space flight program be drastically revised, and aimed at human exploration beyond Earth orbit with the ultimate goal of establishing a human outpost on Mars. The current shuttle-focused program has shackled us to Earth orbit for more than 30 years, and promises to do so for an additional two decades. Even the International Space Station drifts aimlessly. A Mars directed program could change all that, by providing a single unifying goal for human and robotic space ventures.
We take no position on how the human Mars goal should be reached. That can be decided once the goal is established. Important questions remain to be addressed on whether or not a human return to the Moon is a necessary prior step and on the role of interim milestones (with both human and robotic missions). The Society advocates a national commitment to a progressive, well-paced Mars human flight program, which can be accomplished within realistic funding levels.
This is the simple message we believe must be conveyed to the President. The U.S. human space flight program should be directed to send humans to Mars.
Take Action Here!
Send the President a Message: NASA Should Go to Mars!
The future of the United States space program is at stake. Its human space flight program is grounded, and the purposes that it serves are being questioned, in Congress, in the media, and in the general public. The Bush Administration is now conducting a high level review of U.S. space policy, with the goal of issuing a Presidential Directive, perhaps in a few weeks. It may set the course for human space flight, and all space exploration, for a generation.
This is the time - perhaps the only time for the foreseeable future - to influence U.S. space policy and the course of space exploration. We urge our members and all those who care about our future in space to write the President now.
As members of The Planetary Society, and as visitors to our web site, you are familiar with our position. You may read about it in the statements delivered by the Society's Chairman of the Board, Bruce Murray, and Society President, Wesley T. Huntress, Jr. to the House Science Committee. They urged that America's human space flight program be drastically revised, and aimed at human exploration beyond Earth orbit with the ultimate goal of establishing a human outpost on Mars. The current shuttle-focused program has shackled us to Earth orbit for more than 30 years, and promises to do so for an additional two decades. Even the International Space Station drifts aimlessly. A Mars directed program could change all that, by providing a single unifying goal for human and robotic space ventures.
We take no position on how the human Mars goal should be reached. That can be decided once the goal is established. Important questions remain to be addressed on whether or not a human return to the Moon is a necessary prior step and on the role of interim milestones (with both human and robotic missions). The Society advocates a national commitment to a progressive, well-paced Mars human flight program, which can be accomplished within realistic funding levels.
This is the simple message we believe must be conveyed to the President. The U.S. human space flight program should be directed to send humans to Mars.
Monday, November 10, 2003
Martian Invasion: Science News Online, Nov. 8, 2003 A good recap of what's going on with the Rovers and water on Mars.
Monday, November 03, 2003
