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View Full Version : Mars Ice "as big as large glaciers on the Earth."

mhaze
4th March 2009, 02:55 PM
Mid Latitudes Ice! This is big! (http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-amp-space/article/2009-03/martian-debris-aprons-are-full-water)
macdoc
4th March 2009, 05:26 PM
Good find - that's a future lander site. :thumbsup:

I'd not be

a) surprised there microbes on Mars -

b) it's related to earth's.

I'd be very surprised if it wasn't and we didn't
Cosmic Roy
4th March 2009, 05:36 PM
Yes! It's my understanding that Mars's axis of rotation is not as stable as the Earth's, due to the lack of a large moon. So the planet's axis wobbles around, redistributing polar ice to other latitudes. This is the cause of such accumulations as:
http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/rst/Sect19/marsexp-ice-sea-elysium-desk-1024.jpg
Travis
4th March 2009, 06:11 PM
Now if only we could get some samples of that ice for examination.
macdoc
4th March 2009, 07:57 PM
My first tempation was to launch a bunker buster then it occurred to me it would cost a fair bit to get it there....:garfield:
NobbyNobbs
4th March 2009, 08:11 PM
Does anybody happen to know just what "mid-latitudes" means? Are we talking equatorial here?
Hellbound
4th March 2009, 08:12 PM
Does anybody happen to know just what "mid-latitudes" means? Are we talking equatorial here?

Normally, mid-latitudes means midway between equator and poles, IIRC.
BenBurch
4th March 2009, 11:08 PM
Robotic sample return is not out of the question, especially with a nuclear rocket. The issue becomes quarantine. You must isolate the samples from earth contamination, and I would strongly prefer we isolate the earth from them until we know what we have there.
MG1962
4th March 2009, 11:27 PM
Robotic sample return is not out of the question, especially with a nuclear rocket. The issue becomes quarantine. You must isolate the samples from earth contamination, and I would strongly prefer we isolate the earth from them until we know what we have there.

Yes and finding a better way of retrieving it than using a helicopter with a big hook. I hope they sacked the brainac that came up with that scheme
DogB
4th March 2009, 11:56 PM
Yes and finding a better way of retrieving it than using a helicopter with a big hook. I hope they sacked the brainac that came up with that scheme

What? Got a link? I need a laugh.
macdoc
5th March 2009, 12:14 AM
http://www.space.com/images/q_mr4b_1961_03.jpg

maybe

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/liberty_bell_000617.html

the one that got away....
mhaze
5th March 2009, 01:24 PM
Robotic sample return is not out of the question, especially with a nuclear rocket. The issue becomes quarantine. You must isolate the samples from earth contamination, and I would strongly prefer we isolate the earth from them until we know what we have there.For the mass of fraction of a return trip you could easily have a 20 ton robot laboratory placed on the surface. Run that with a plutonium battery .

"Kids in a candy store"...
BenBurch
5th March 2009, 01:57 PM
For the mass of fraction of a return trip you could easily have a 20 ton robot laboratory placed on the surface. Run that with a plutonium battery .

"Kids in a candy store"...

Quite possible. I was sort of thinking that the return stage would compress martian atmosphere to feed the reactor for the return, but if you could get a good lab that could do the sort of microscopy and analysis required landed in the right place, then all you need to ensure is the sterility of that lab.