OK, I'm officially disappointed yet again by NASA.

So why all the fuss? .. if this discovery(as evident) is nothing new, then again, why all the fuss from the media and official announcements and stuff?

JL is right, NASA really are the biggest gas giant in the solar system.



[edit on 15/1/09 by Majorion]

Ok, so what they've said is its a 1% chance to be a comet (basically meaning it wasn't a comet). They are missing all other gases (namely sulfur dioxide) to say that it is a geological process. They have located twelve other "life-marker gases" as they called them, on mars. They have found ice, yet they still want to say there is no evidence to point in either direction. Does that make sense to anyone else?

It's live now, you can see it on cnn.com, it's at the top of the page. Unfortunately the CNN tv channel isn't even mentioning it.

Lots of "maybe", "could be", "test the hypothesis".

If this isn't NASA wheeling out it's begging bowl and pleading to Obama for more money I don't know what it is.

Maybe it's just a comet..?

Let this be a lesson to those who think NASA would conspire in conjunction with Seti or other government agencies to hide the discovery of ET life.

*Each* time something of interest to Mars was dicovered, they go public, and in a big way.

So, that methane is present by biology or geology on Mars, it's important, but to me the "how" they come forward with evidence is just as important.

Keep up the good scientific work.

I can't wait to see the reaction here on ATS, gases seeping out from the subsurface is a far cry from EBE's at Area51, I'm sure some will be yealling "coverup" pretty quickly.

Originally posted by senshido
Let this be a lesson to those who think NASA would conspire in conjunction with Seti or other government agencies to hide the discovery of ET life.

*Each* time something of interest to Mars was dicovered, they go public, and in a big way.

So, that methane is present by biology or geology on Mars, it's important, but to me the "how" they come forward with evidence is just as important.

Keep up the good scientific work.

I can't wait to see the reaction here on ATS, gases seeping out from the subsurface is a far cry from EBE's at Area51, I'm sure some will be yealling "coverup" pretty quickly.

Actually I don't know if you noticed or not but when a caller asked when these detections of methane were done the first scientist sitting on the left admitted it was from way back in 2003 and 2006. So they've known about it for quite some time, why are they coming out with it now?

Begging for more funding seems to be the most logical answer.

Originally posted by senshido
*Each* time something of interest to Mars was dicovered, they go public, and in a big way.

If this was true they would not have waited as long as they have to address this issue. This information has existed for over four years. There is something definitely odd about the timing especially given how underwhelming the news have been.

By the way, one of the senior scientists on the panel was asked about other releases of methane in previous seasons, to see whether this was a seasonal occurrence (which would strengthen the case for life)

His answer: "We are not at liberty to discuss this yet"

Not "We have insufficient data" or "We have not gone over the data yet" but "We are not at liberty to discuss"

What do you think that means? It means that what determines their subjects allowed for discussion is not scientific reasons but a complex blend of what's scientific knowledge and what is somehow politically necessary.

-rrr

Yep, that's the last time I invest enthusiasm in any "breaking news" announcement from NASA.

At least it wasn't as bad as the announcement last year that was hyped to no end.

Originally posted by rickyrrr
By the way, one of the senior scientists on the panel was asked about other releases of methane in previous seasons, to see whether this was a seasonal occurrence (which would strengthen the case for life)

His answer: "We are not at liberty to discuss this yet"

Not "We have insufficient data" or "We have not gone over the data yet" but "We are not at liberty to discuss"

What do you think that means?

My ears perked up when he said that;-) imo,

He's a geek nerd working in a big box.

Before releasing any data they need it peer reviewed.

Just collecting and presenting all that data is time consuming.

a) Geeks don't like like looking foolish in front of their peers.
b) The big box he's working for has lawyers and public relations people who need to validate all public facing data; they certainly need to sign off before any public release is made.

Dear President-elect Obama,

We know the democrats are not interested in our Lunar base plan or future plans for space exploration. Therefore, in order to protect our budget, NASA can confirm the potential signs of life on Mars.

In fact, President-elect, we can evaluate and develop conclusions on the matter but we will require A) our budget not to be cut and B) increased budget in order to prevent China or Russia from making the historical discovery.

Yours sincerely,

NASA