Updates and Developments:
February 26, 2004: NASA has actually posted an Opportunity Rover picture showing a blue sky on Mars, on the
Mars Rover web site (see photo below). The photo caption says: "This is a still image from the rover's
panoramic camera showing Sun just over the horizon...The sky above the Sun has the same blue tint observed
by Pathfinder and also by Viking, which landed on Mars in 1976." Very interesting!
NASA Photo
NASA Photo Link:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040226a.html
At the present time, a number of groups are making serious efforts to convince our government that the
American public is ready for "disclosure" and that the findings of the 1961 Brookings Report are too
overly cautions and outdated for today's society. For example: A conference of clergymen from a variety
of faiths was assembled recently, to discuss the effects of finding life or artifacts on other planets,
on the religious community. The results of this thirteen-hour discussion were reported to be positive.
We'll have to stay tuned on that one.
March 02, 2004: NASA has just announced that data collected from the Opportunity Rover has shown
convincing evidence that liquid water was once present at the Rover's Meridiani Planum landing site,
billions of years ago. This means that the main goal of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission has been
accomplished. NASA scientists are now saying that Mars could have supported life in the ancient past,
but they will not be able to test for evidence of past (or present) life until another specially
equipped probe is launched. The original design of the Mars Rovers had included instruments that were
going to be use to test for biological evidence on Mars, but those instruments were later cut from the
design. You would think that with an $820 million price tag, such instruments would have been included.
The current plan is to launch a Mars mission in the next decade that will actually return samples from
Mars back to the Earth for analysis. There is a concern that those samples might be contaminated by
organisms, which could be harmful to life forms on Earth and precautions will have to be taken to
prevent any biological cross-contamination of planets. (The same kind of precautions were taken during
the Apollo Missions to the Moon). Even with the latest findings, NASA scientists are still telling
reporters that the odds against finding current biological life on Mars are one million-to-one. They
are also saying that liquid water cannot exist anywhere on Mars, even though Mars has polar ice caps
that wax and wane (freeze and melt) with the changing seasons and the Opportunity Rover's wheels
appeared to be making tracks in mud.
June 2, 2004: NASA has posted a Spirit Rover picture on the Mars Rover web site, that finally shows
a more accurate color representation of the sky and landscape on Mars (see photo below).
One of the questionable excuses that JPL offered for the poor color calibration of their MER pictures,
was that early in the mission, so much data was coming in from Mars, that there wasn't enough time
to adjust the color properly and that they were just trying to quickly get something up on their
web site for the public to see. They said that they would go back "in about two weeks" and correct
the color when they have time. So far, (about four months later), this has not happened. Now that the
MER Mission is winding down, will JPL actually go back and correct the color of all of the Mars
Rover pictures or were they just trying to get us to leave them alone for a while, hoping that we
would all just forget about it and go away?
NASA Photo
NASA Photo Link:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040602a.html
July 27, 2004: NASA has posted an Opportunity Rover picture on the Mars Rover web site, showing a
clear blue sky on Mars with vivid, Earth-like colors in the rock surface of the "Endurance Crater"
(see photo below). Although this picture was processed by JPL, it looks almost as if it was
processed by Keith Laney. NASA describes this picture as a "false-color composite rendering" and
an "exaggerated color image." Note the so-called "blueberries" in the foreground.
NASA Photo
NASA Photo Link:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040727a.html
The picture below, also posted on the Mars Rover web site, is the same image shown above, but is
"an approximately true color rendering," according to NASA. Are we supposed to believe that the
sky on Mars looks like pea soup and the so-called "blueberries" are brown in color?
NASA Photo
NASA Photo Link:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040727a.html
February 22, 2005: The European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has found evidence for what
scientists call a huge "frozen sea" of water ice beneath the Martian surface, in relatively warm
conditions near the equator. Methane levels over the same area indicate that primitive microorganisms
might survive on Mars today. These findings have changed many previously held opinions about Mars
and are shaping the plans for future ESA missions to the planet. NASA scientists have argued that
neither water or water ice can exist anywhere on Mars and that the planet's polar ice caps
are comprised only of carbon dioxide ice (dry ice). This model dates back to 1966
and has recently been proven to be erroneous. Current findings show that there is plenty of frozen
water on Mars, especially at the poles.
July 29, 2005: The European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has taken this photo (below) of a
frozen lake on Mars. According to ESA scientists, this lake, situated on the floor of a crater near
the Martian north pole, is comprised of frozen water and is not carbon dioxide ice.
ESA Photo
ESA Photo Link:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMGKA808BE_0.html
To be continued...
JB
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