[meteorite-list] Mars Odyssey Finds New Clues to Guide the Search for Life on Mars

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:54:00 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200803202054.NAA05734_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

March 20, 2008

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov

Robert Burnham
Arizona State University, Tempe
480-458-8207
robert.burnham at asu.edu

Tara Hicks-Johnson
University of Hawaii, Manoa
808- 956-3151
hickst at hawaii.edu

RELEASE: 08-084

NASA MISSION FINDS NEW CLUES TO GUIDE THE SEARCH FOR LIFE ON MARS

WASHINGTON - NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has found evidence of salt
deposits. These deposits point to places where water once was
abundant and where evidence might exist of possible Martian life from
the Red Planet's past.

A team led by Mikki Osterloo of the University of Hawaii, Honolulu,
found approximately 200 places on southern Mars that show spectral
characteristics consistent with chloride minerals. Chloride is part
of many types of salt, such as sodium chloride or table salt. The
sites range from about half of a square mile to 25 times that size.

"They could come from groundwater reaching the surface in low spots,"
Osterloo said. "The water would evaporate and leave mineral deposits,
which build up over years. The sites are disconnected, so they are
unlikely to be the remnants of a global ocean."

Scientists used Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System, a camera
designed and operated by Arizona State University, Tempe, to take
images in a range of visible light and infrared wavelengths.

Thermal infrared wavelengths are useful for identifying different
mineral and rock types on the Martian surface. Osterloo found the
sites by looking through thousands of images processed to reveal, in
false colors, compositional differences on the Martian surface.

Plotted on a Mars map, the chloride sites appear only in the southern
highlands, the most ancient rocks on Mars. Osterloo and seven
co-authors report the findings in this week's issue of the journal
Science.

"Many of the deposits lie in basins with channels leading into them,"
said Philip Christensen, co-author and principal investigator for the
camera at Arizona State University. "This is the kind of feature,
like salt-pan deposits on Earth, that's consistent with water flowing
in over a long time."

Scientists think the salt deposits formed approximately 3.5 to 3.9
billion years ago. Several lines of evidence suggest Mars then had
intermittent periods with substantially wetter and warmer conditions
than today's dry, frigid climate.

Scientists looking for evidence of past life on Mars have focused
mainly on a handful of places that show evidence of clay or sulfate
minerals. Clays indicate weathering by water, and sulfates may have
formed by water evaporation. The new research, however, suggests an
alternative mineral target to explore for biological remains.

"By their nature, salt deposits point to a lot of water, which
potentially could remain standing in pools as it evaporates." said
Christensen. "That's crucial. For life, it's all about a habitat that
endures for some time."

Whether life ever has existed on Mars is the biggest scientific
question driving Mars research. On Earth, salt is good at preserving
organic material. Bacteria have been revived in the laboratory after
being preserved in salt deposits for millions of years.

"This discovery demonstrates the continuing value of the Odyssey
science mission, now entering its seventh year. The more we look at
Mars, the more fascinating a place it becomes," said Jeffrey Plaut,
Odyssey project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif.

"This is a wonderful and scientifically exciting result obtained from
a relatively low cost NASA Mars orbiter mission which still has years
of life left.," said Alan Stern, associate administrator for NASA's
Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "Hold on to your hats,
more exciting results from Mars are sure to be coming."

For additional information about Odyssey, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/odyssey

        
-end-
Received on Thu 20 Mar 2008 04:54:00 PM PDT


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