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From: Barry DiGregorio
Date: Monday, July 11, 2016
To: Cassie Conley
Cc: John Rummel
Subject: NASA Weighs Use of Rover to Image Potential Mars Water Sites
Dear Dr. Conley and Dr. Rummel,
When I read the headline this morning "NASA Weighs Use of Rover to Image Potential
Mars Water Sites" http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6542 I had to chuckle
a bit. The article says with a quote from Dr. Conley: How close could the rover safely
get to an RSL? "That's exactly the question that needs to be addressed early in the
process," said Catharine Conley, NASA's planetary protection officer. "Kilometers
away -- it's unlikely that it would be an issue. So the idea is to send contaminated
spacecraft and merely avoid what you would call the "special regions" even though MSL
likely drove right through what could be called a special region? The area of damp soil
on SOL 528-532 is unmistakable. These images demonstrate that NASA really doesn't
understand where the special regions might be or where liquid water might ooze up.
There is ice likely everywhere a few centimeters below the soil as some images of
recent meteorite impacts by MRO have shown. You see ice in the craters that are
excavated. Mars water cycle follows simple rules of physics - when the triple point
of water is reached (pressure and temperature) it bubbles to the surface and dampens
soil to where you can actually see it and if you are a really keen observer, can see
it sticking to the MSL rover wheels or gathering in droplets on the Phoenix Lander struts.
Here are some images of MSL traversing a special regions zone.
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=532&camera=MAHLI
Since we do not know where "special regions" might be encountered, shouldn't all Mars bound
rovers and landers be sterilized to the best of NASA's ability?
Sincerely,
Barry E. DiGregorio
From: John Rummel
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2016
To: Barry DiGregorio
Cc: Cassie Conley
Subject: Re: NASA Weighs Use of Rover to Image Potential Mars Water Sites
Hi Barry,
I think that you have a point, but no evidence that is convincing to me.
The "unmistakable" images you note show areas of fine-grain adherence,
but they are unlikely candidates for a water discovery, given that they
exist if full insolation at a time (see below) when the water content of
the atmosphere is very low, and it is warm enough for pure water to
evaporate.
Salty water? Not too likely there, either (but we have MSL looking for
patches, to be sure).
Note, however, that the dates of your imagines are near to a time when
nighttime relative humidity is very high, and could be near saturation
on the surface-because it is so very cold. That raises interesting
questions about water possibly being available enough that it could be
sequestered for use, later, when temperatures go above -18°C. We don't
have an example of an Earth organism that can reproduce using only water
vapor, whether simultaneously with warm enough temperatures or not, but
we do know organisms that can metabolize with water vapor as its only
water source.
It would be great to find one that can store water from vapor and
reproduce!
We will keep looking.
Cheers,
John Rummel
From: Barry DiGregorio
Date: Monday, July 21, 2016
To: John Rummel
Cc: Cassie Conley
Subject: Re: NASA Weighs Use of Rover to Image Potential Mars Water Sites
Dear Dr. Rummel,
Thank you for your reply and information, however I still think the soil
in the series of images I mentioned was damp. The detail of the
impressions and striations left behind by the rover wheels in the soil
look a lot like slightly damp clay. The rover wheels have not had soil
adhering to them that I have seen in any other sols. I sent Chris Mckay
the series of images below and even he thought it looked like damp clay.
The Mars we have come to know today is vastly different than even a
decade or so ago. The series of attached images show the Mars we know
today - an image of a meteorite impact showing ice under the ejecta
blanket; an image of the icy soil beneath the Phoenix Lander; the image
of water droplets attached to the Phoenix Lander struts and finally the
excellent image of H2O frost adhering to the rocks and soil of the
Viking 2 Lander site.
A new study was done on perchlorates and I think it can apply to
dampness of the Martian soil as well: Extremophiles can thrive on
perchlorates and metabolize carbon monoxide, researchers report.
By Tanya Lewis | June 23, 2016
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/46405/title/Microbes-Persist-in-Super-Salty-Conditions/
I will be at the Viking Symposium on July 20th. I see you are speaking
as well. Hopefully I will finally get to meet you in person. Gil Levin
is giving a talk as well. Should be very interesting.
IMAGES OF POSSIBLE DAMP SOIL
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00532/mcam/0532ML2109003000E1_DXXX.jpg
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00530/mcam/0530ML0021051190203438E01_DXXX.jpg
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00530/mcam/0530ML0021051160203435E01_DXXX.jpg
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00530/mcam/0530ML0021051090203428E01_DXXX.jpg
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00530/mcam/0530ML0021050890203408E01_DXXX.jpg
Sincerely,
Barry E. DiGregorio
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