by Milky Way Maid, from news reports
According to a new report from a senior propulsion scientist at Orbital Technologies Corp., Mars' redness may be linked to a nuclear past. In a story that has been picked up by AOL news service, this hypothesis is supported by the presence of radioactive materials still found on the planet surface.
Excerpt:
"A natural nuclear reaction could have occurred on our own planet -- and could happen again, said Dr. John Brandenburg, a senior propulsion scientist at Orbital Technologies Corp.
' "The Martian surface is covered with a thin layer of radioactive substances including uranium, thorium and radioactive potassium -- and this pattern radiates from a hot spot [on Mars],” Brandenburg told FoxNews.com."
Very interesting article. Let's hope that funding is successfully sought for a mission to Mars to verify this hypothesis.
Article may be read at http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/04/01/natural-nuclear-blast-mars/#
Showing posts with label theory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theory. Show all posts
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Friday, June 18, 2010
Mars' spiral ice caps finally explained
by Milky Way Maid
NASA has finally explained the puzzling fact of spiral formations in the polar ice caps of the planet Mars. These swirls were first discovered when Mariner 9 relayed images of the Martian poles almost 40 years ago. Now data from the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter has been analyzed to reveal that it was most likely the wind that powered these designs.
According to the NASA news release:
June 16, 2010: Almost 40 years ago, NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft relayed to Earth the first video images of Mars' northern polar ice cap, revealing a strange pattern of spiral swirls that has puzzled scientists ever since. Using new data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), researchers have finally uncovered the secrets of the troughs that snake through the ice cap like a spiraled maze.
Jack Holt of the University of Texas and his graduate student Isaac Smith used radar data from MRO's Shallow Subsurface Radar to crack the case. Examining the details of this new data set has laid open the ice cap's internal structure, revealing clues to the massive ice troughs' formation.
Apparently, the wind did it.
"Radar cross sections reveal layers of ice deposited throughout the ice cap's history," says Holt. "The size and shape of those layers indicate that wind has played a key role in creating and shaping the spiral troughs."
You can read the whole article at http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/16jun_martianspirals/
NASA has finally explained the puzzling fact of spiral formations in the polar ice caps of the planet Mars. These swirls were first discovered when Mariner 9 relayed images of the Martian poles almost 40 years ago. Now data from the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter has been analyzed to reveal that it was most likely the wind that powered these designs.
According to the NASA news release:
June 16, 2010: Almost 40 years ago, NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft relayed to Earth the first video images of Mars' northern polar ice cap, revealing a strange pattern of spiral swirls that has puzzled scientists ever since. Using new data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), researchers have finally uncovered the secrets of the troughs that snake through the ice cap like a spiraled maze.
Jack Holt of the University of Texas and his graduate student Isaac Smith used radar data from MRO's Shallow Subsurface Radar to crack the case. Examining the details of this new data set has laid open the ice cap's internal structure, revealing clues to the massive ice troughs' formation.
Apparently, the wind did it.
"Radar cross sections reveal layers of ice deposited throughout the ice cap's history," says Holt. "The size and shape of those layers indicate that wind has played a key role in creating and shaping the spiral troughs."
You can read the whole article at http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/16jun_martianspirals/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
