The importance of water was discussed earlier; however new light is brought onto the subject when thinking in the present. The main problem with water on Mars is the lack of pressure required to sustain liquid water. The decrease in pressure has come about over the course of billions of years as a result of atmospheric erosion and other potential causes. Currently our leading theory is atmospheric erosion; however, it is possible that it is not accountable for all loss of atmosphere. Research has shown that over 3.5 billion years up to four millibar of CO2 along with multiple centimeters of water can be lost due to solar winds. This change in atmospheric pressure was relatively fast and could have caused it to be very difficult for life to continue if it even existed to begin with. All of these problems paint a dismal picture for life on Mars today, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely impossible.
New light has been shed on the possibilities of life currently living on Mars both by our latest rover and by discoveries here on earth. On earth scientists have discovered Achaea and Bacteria in the Earth’s subsurface. These microbes live on hydrogen released from rocks and geothermal activities deep inside the earth (Chapelle). These realizations have given researchers hope that the same types of organisms could exist today on Mars. These are very promising options for life on not solely Mars, but also on other celestial bodies.
Of course there is the question of liquid water which must be realized, but what one will find is that even under a few feet of soil pressures begin to increase greatly. Under these pressures it is possible for water to exist as a liquid, especially in the warmer areas of geothermal activity that ...
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Linking with the idea of hydrothermal vents being a 'reactor' for RNA hydrothermal vents rely on chemical energy from geothermal vents to sustain a organisms. Swarms of bacteria thrive in this environment which acts as an interface between the high temperature vents and cold oxygenated seawater. The bacteria thrive on gases produced by the vents such as methane and use these chemicals to produce simple organic molecules to support the local ecosystem in a similar way to plants using photosynthesis. Wachtershauser has proposed that a biochemical cycle grew and assembled the first living cell.
Before this breakthrough no one could have thought that life occurred so amazingly early, that Earth was inhabited by a huge array of tiny life forms throughout the first four-fifths of it’s existence, and no one deduced that evolution itself evolved over geologic time. All of geological time, the total history of the earth, is divided into major eras and eons. The Precambrian eon marks the approximate age of the earth and spans a time of 4.6 billion years ago to 523 million years ago. This era is known to include approximately 90% of geologic time and covers 4 billion years of Earth history. The time period is not extremely well known or completely understood because rocks from this era are poorly exposed, many rocks have been eroded or metamorphosed, most are buried deep beneath younger rocks and fossils from this time period and are seldom found.
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Supporting the theory that we can colonize mars on mars, Chris Larson wrote, “Liquid water flows, at least sometimes on the planet Mars.” (Larson 1) Needs, such as water, food, and human-survivable climates often aren’t met on other planets, so researchers try to find evidence of these. Water on Mars is a huge breakthrough because of this, as that is one previous limitation of Mars that is now known to not be one. But, there are other options too, such as other exoplanets, as in planets outside of our solar system. “Now scientists have discovered the first Earth-sized exoplanet, dubbed Kepler-186f within the so-called habitable zone of a star.”(____) That is just one example of a recent discovery. Although there might be flaws, it may be plausible to colonize on the surface of a
In mid March of 1998, a scientific break through occurred for the engineers at NASA. The space probe that they sent to Mars came back and, for the first time, contained readable and usable photographs of the planet's landscape. Full of pride over their latest achievement, NASA posted the information on the Internet. This allowed astronomy enthusiasts, students, and other interested individuals to take a first hand look at the, never before seen, Martian Landscape. (NASA)
Did Mars ever mirror Earth? I would like to start this discussion by defining the term “mirrored,” as being a like or characteristic of a mirror image. So for proposes of this discussion I will use this definition meaning it is in a resemblance and not a direct copy of one another. Now with all the formalities out of the way let’s move on. After spending a small portion of my life reading through papers about Mars Geology I have come to the conclusion that Mars does in fact have supporting evidence that it was once a mirrored planet of Earth. Or better said, Earth is a current mirror image of Mars in the past. In the paragraphs below I will support this claim with evidence from research findings, papers, and photographs. It will also be structured as so, interior, magnetic field, atmosphere, plate tectonics, volcanoes, and water.
Scientists have dreamt over the possibility that it may be possible to live on another planet. Some think that Mars has that potential to support life, if it's hidden resources are uncovered and exploited to their full potential. There is even evidence that it once contained enough water that it had been possible to hold life. Think about it, what if we could transform it into such a place, even if only our children's children get to see any result? The following will describe Mars, present evidence of ice and water, give possible ideas for the future exploration of Mars, and give reasons for why it is important.
The water contained under the soil has had some various effects on the Mars terrain. When the robots were on mars collecting samples, they found some rocks that looked like rocks from prehistoric life here on earth. When analyzing these samples, the scientists deemed that the water was very acidic and salty. This is similar to some of the earlier times in the Australian area.
“Scientists to examine floating dump.” Science News (Aug. 2009): n. pag. Web. 23 Apr. 2010.
Recently, two probes were sent back and they made it to Mars. They landed on the South Polar Caps of Mars. That is where NASA plans to find water. After landing on Mars, the probes extracted water like crystals from the surface of Mars. They found that there was a small amount of water in the crystals, which means that there is a strong chance that life, was on Mars at one time.
life as we know it would not have been possible. This essay will examine the water molecule
Statistics have showed 7.5% of rocks from Mars reached Earth. These rocks would travel between less than 100 years to 16,000 years and more to get to Earth. Some proponents include Gyon de Montlivant, who proposed that life came from moon, H.E. Richter, who suggested life came from meteorites or comets, but Svante Arrhenius proposed this theory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Mars http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091217101627AAs 3 Fw 6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_of_Mars http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081008001921AA40Psp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weightlessness#Human_health_effects
Mars is a very similar planet to earth in relation to size and atmosphere. Therefore it seemed like the most likely place to search for life. At the end of the 19th century, an American named Percival Lowell built himself an observatory so that it was possible for him to study Mars in intimate detail when its orbit was closest to Earth. At this time it had recently been suggested that the planet had a system of channels on the surface, present from the evaporation of flowing water. Looking through his telescope Lowell became convinced he could see a network of artificial canals. This led him to believe that there were intelligent beings on Mars who had built these canals. However, spacecraft have now visited Mars and found that there is no evidence of water at all. It is now thought that the lines he could see were the combination of Lowell's overactive imagination, and scratches on the lens of his telescope. We are now searching one of Jupiter's moons, Europa, as this seems to be the next likely place to hold life.
Water covers about seventy one percent of Earth’s surface. Earth is the only planet to have stable bodies of liquid water on its surface which is crucial for all known life forms. Water is a substance which acts as a solvent in which organic compounds can mix, and it is the substance which is thought to be necessary to facilitate the formation of life. There are many forms of water which include ice, liquid, and gas. Because water can exist as a gas, it can be stored in the atmosphere and be delivered as precipitate. Water also helps regulate the climat...