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ZL2VAL > SETI 09.03.04 12:44l 90 Lines 3306 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : AE0604ZL2VAL
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Subj: Mars may stink
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Sent: 040309/1017Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:37346 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : SETI@WW
Mars Stinks: Sulfur Deposits May Make Red Planet Putrid
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 10:30 am ET
08 March 2004
If you've got a nose for news, here's a bulletin: Mars may smell to high
heaven.
Recent revelations about the red planet from NASA's two Mars exploration
rovers -- Spirit and Opportunity -- have relayed back details about the
volcanic and water-laden landscape.
For example, at the Meridiani Planum site in which the wheeled
Opportunity now roves, the robotic field geologist found a very high
concentration of sulfur. The chemical form of this sulfur appears to be
in magnesium, iron or other sulfate salts.
Using its science gear, the robot has detected a hydrated iron sulfate
mineral called jarosite.
On Earth, rocks with as much salt as this Mars rock either have formed
in water or, after formation, have been highly altered by long exposures
to water. Jarosite may point to the rock's wet history having been in an
acidic lake or an acidic hot springs environment.
Sulfur, acids, magnesium, iron -- all put together under the carbon
dioxide-rich skies of Mars -- could just reek.
Eye of the smelling beholder
"You have sulfur and you have oxidizing environment - you make the
sulfate. And then if you end up with some acid-favoring situations, like
acid groundwaters, you make sulfuric acid. Out of that comes hydrogen
sulphide as a byproduct in some reactions - and you start to stink," said
Jim Garvin, NASA Lead Scientist for Mars and Lunar Exploration in
Washington, D.C.
Garvin said on his field excursions here on Earth to volcanic areas, the
sulfurous stench to him is a kind of cleansing smell. "I don't know. It
may stink in the eye of the smelling beholder," he told SPACE.com .
While the aroma of Mars might not be daunting for robots, knowing more
about how that environment appeals to future human explorers is serious
business.
Unpleasant odor
For one, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is a gas encountered worldwide here on
Earth. Drilling formations with the presence of H2S can encounter some
very serious problems. While it gives off an unpleasant odor and can
stir up a headache, it is also explosive and poisonous.
No doubt future Mars explorers tromping about the red planet will be
well-suited to work outside their habitat. But precautions must be taken.
Humans on Mars don't have to look back too far in the space exploration
journals to take note of what Apollo moonwalkers encountered.
After bouncing about on the Moon and crawling back into their lunar
module, several Apollo astronauts noticed they had tracked back into
their home-away-from-home rock and dust particles. In doffing their
helmets, the smell was likened to wet ashes in a fireplace, even spent
gunpowder from a just fired shotgun.
If Mars is to be home base for 21st century astronauts, much more data
about the planet is necessary before humans set foot, and nose, on that
faraway world.
=========================
73 de Alan, (Sysop ZL2AB).
AX25:ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
APRS:!3903.34S/17406.45E]
IP :zl2val@qsl.net
Message timed: 23:08 on 2004-Mar-09 (NZT)
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Points to ponder
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