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ZL2VAL > ROVERS 03.03.04 12:04l 71 Lines 2428 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 080586ZL2VAL
Read: GUEST
Subj: Life could be possible
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0SIF<DB0EA<DB0RES<ON0AR<ZL2BAU<ZL2BAU<ZL1AB<ZL2AB
Sent: 040303/0858Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:37002 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : ROVERS@WW
Mar 2, 2004
Martian cocktail
Discovery that Mars was once wet enough for life may get us closer
to ancient cousins
So, we may not be alone after all.
It's a possibility that may have increased following NASA's exciting
announcement Tuesday that its Mars rover Opportunity has discovered
evidence that the Red Planet was once wet enough to harbor life.
The spacecraft has not found proof of organisms alive now or in the
planet's past, but an analysis of rocks clearly shows "the ground
would have been suitable for life," said Steve Squyers, a Cornell
University scientist and leader of the rovers' investigative team.
In fact, the mineral composition of the rocks studied by Opportunity
suggests the conditions may have even been magical enough to allow
organisms to flourish.
Who cares?
We all should, because if something did live on Mars eons ago it may
have been an ancient cousin.
You see, the findings are an important -- indeed, historic -- step
in NASA's quest to find out if life on Earth is unique, or if the
seeds that gave rise to humans are common throughout the cosmos.
If they are, it opens the door to the chance that life forms exist
throughout the universe.
We're not talking about little green men buzzing around the solar
system in UFOs, but rather, that in the great biological scheme of
things, we could be just another multi-celled kid on the cosmic block.
Right now, however, we don't want to get too far ahead of the game.
NASA scientists are just starting to sift through the finds of
Opportunity and its sister ship, Spirit, both of which landed on
Mars in January. Much research remains to be done.
But these early finds are like nothing anyone has seen before, and
they make us wonder what astronauts might find if they could walk on
the Martian surface.
=========================
73 de Alan, (Sysop ZL2AB).
AX25:ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
APRS:!3903.34S/17406.45E]
IP :zl2val@qsl.net
Message timed: 21:46 on 2004-Mar-03 (NZT)
Message sent using WinPack-AGW V6.80
Points to ponder
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marriage
~~~~~~~~
Getting married is very much like going to a restaurant with friends.
You order what you want, then when you see what the other person has,
you wish you had ordered that
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