Mars Studies in Death Valley

[Christopher K.]

The PBS show Nature was on early this morning with an episode entitled "Life in Death Valley". It showcased different aspects of the extremely hot location, including the outrageously harsh Badwater section and the scientists who have permission from park officials to study the signature minerals microbes leave behind. This practice may help us notice whether we find similar materials on Mars with any lander or rover.

The Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) is supposed to have the largest scientific payload of anything we've sent to the surface of the Red Planet. One of its main goals is to discover if Mars at one point was suitable for microbial life.

More information:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/deathvalley/mars.html
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/530955main_mslf ... 110324.pdf

[Christopher K.]

Scientists are watching closely the data returned from Mars by the Curiosity Rover (basically a robot geologist). Curious signatures of oxygen and methane, if any, will be scrutinized.

HRPO will present the Science Academy session "Introduction to Astrobiology" on 7 December...
http://hrpo.lsu.edu/programs/academy.html

[Christopher K.]

Tomorrow at 2pm CDT, NASA-TV will premiere "Perserverance Mars Rover and the Search for Ancient Life"; it will rerun at various times later.

The SHERLOC instrument will do a comparision study of Martian grains, since its has a calibration target which will include a portion of a Martian meteorite...
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7666

WATSON will take pictures of the rocks.