Morgan BellExcessive methane found on Mars - caused by life? Or geological processes?
January 15th 2009 01:54
""Methane is quickly destroyed in the Martian atmosphere in a variety of ways, so our discovery of substantial plumes of methane in the northern hemisphere of Mars in 2003 indicates some ongoing process is releasing the gas," said Dr. Michael Mumma of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "At northern mid-summer, methane is released at a rate comparable to that of the massive hydrocarbon seep at Coal Oil Point in Santa Barbara, Calif.""
Living organisms produce methane in abundance, which is why it's an interesting marker for the potential for life on Mars. Coupled with the discovery that there are glaciers and water on Mars, and this whole racket starts to sound a lot more interesting...
Methane is also caused by certain geological processes, though. NASA elaborates:
"On Earth, the conversion of iron oxide (rust) into the serpentine group of minerals creates methane, and on Mars this process could proceed using water, carbon dioxide, and the planet's internal heat. Although we don’t have evidence on Mars of active volcanoes today, ancient methane trapped in ice "cages" called clathrates might now be released."
Of course, regardless of whether we find what we're looking for, it is a good mystery, and one that the next Mars Lander will be put on the case. We'll sit at our computers, fingers tensed, waiting for the news.
One commenter firmly believes that NASA knows all about the aliens, though:
"nasa already knows about aliens in space that have been observing there missions for years , Go to youtube and type nasa ufos and research it for yourselves, There have already been a couple astronuts who have come out and talked about ufos they have seen while in space goorden cooper and edgar mitchael, Do the research yourself the truth is out there"
The truth is out there - nothing better than quoting the X-Files to get NASA or anyone else to take you seriously...
| 28 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
