Mars mystery: What has curiosity discovered?

[karl]

Science isn't something that just happens overnight. It takes many measurements, oodles of analysis, re-testing and re-analysis before any groundbreaking announcement can be made.

So, on the surface of Mars, inside Gale Crater on a plain called Aeolis Palus, our tenacious six-wheeled Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is doing cutting-edge laboratory work on an alien world and mission scientists are itching to announce a "historic" discovery.

"This data is gonna be one for the history books. It's looking really good," John Grotzinger, lead scientist of the MSL mission, said in an interview with NPR.

But what is he referring to and why all the secrecy?


Full story here:http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-mystery-what-has-curiosity-discovered-121120.html


Also here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2236333/Curiosity-team-set-reveal-major-discovery-Martian-soil--just-yet.html

[Noirtier]

I heard about this. It's intrigued me, and I'll be watching and waiting for them to release the official finds/results to the public!

[Jess]

I can't wait to hear what it has discovered!

[Coolboi]

Interesting : fallowed the landings an little more then forget all about it I'm going to check it out now an thanks good reminder off to mars I'll be back

[Gordo]

I heard about this. It's intrigued me, and I'll be watching and waiting for them to release the official finds/results to the public!

I have the feeling I'll be under whelmed when they release the results. they could say there used to be water there. Oh okay, that's great, but so what. Same for if there was an atmosphere that blew away and if they say there was life there, it will be some microbe that's embedded in rock.

The net result will be that there will be more questions than answers and that whatever they found will have zero impact for an eon or more, if ever.

For all the money spent on Mars, we could be doing things here to improve the health of this planet, which is more than amazing and has more mysteries and discoveries than Mars will ever provide.

I can't wait for the laughable colonization speculation as a result of this rover. It really will be funny to see people flip out and then realize the scientific community is after more money to continue to explore a planet nearby when we don't have a clue about so many things on our own planet that's still worth saving.

[Magical]

I have the feeling I'll be under whelmed when they release the results. they could say there used to be water there. Oh okay, that's great, but so what. Same for if there was an atmosphere that blew away and if they say there was life there, it will be some microbe that's embedded in rock.

The net result will be that there will be more questions than answers and that whatever they found will have zero impact for an eon or more, if ever.

For all the money spent on Mars, we could be doing things here to improve the health of this planet, which is more than amazing and has more mysteries and discoveries than Mars will ever provide.

I can't wait for the laughable colonization speculation as a result of this rover. It really will be funny to see people flip out and then realize the scientific community is after more money to continue to explore a planet nearby when we don't have a clue about so many things on our own planet that's still worth saving.

Hey buddy, I don't think you realise that water IS there on Mars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_on_Mars). Oh WOW, it's terrible thinking about colonising a planet where it reaches a balmy 25 degrees Celcius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars), has water and could grow turnips (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14217-martian-soil-could-grow-turnips-phoenix-finds.html)! (If there were a few other things, of course!)
Oh yes, it's more important to find things out about our planet than if life has existed on another planet! Being curious about the solar system? :mad: NOOO!
Oh and also it's quite possible they found life - the instrument that made a discovery was, among other things, tasked with finding organic molecules (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22532-curiosity-result-could-confirm-mars-life-says-levin.html)!