Mars Surface Anomalies Viewed From Orbit / Afar

[ChasFink]

Just as the Viking rovers did actually get a positive result from their experiments to detect life in the Martian soil but it was decided this was a false positive despite many scientists believing otherwise:

There were no rovers on Viking, just orbiters and landers, and to be fair only one of the three or four (depending on how you classify them) life experiments was positive. Still, it's strange - and suspicious - that in the nearly 50 years since there has been no convincing attempt to clarify the results on later missions.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

There were no rovers on Viking, just orbiters and landers, and to be fair only one of the three or four (depending on how you classify them) life experiments was positive. Still, it's strange - and suspicious - that in the nearly 50 years since there has been no convincing attempt to clarify the results on later missions.

Yes, sorry landers. We had the National geographic magazines that featured the full colour Viking images from the surface of Mars and I remember being fascinated by them. I do find it most odd that no attempt has been made to replicate these tests and I you could make a decent conspiracy theory from it all. Ultimately though it may simply be that the scientist who make these sorts of decisions were skeptical of the Viking claims.

 

[Mythopoeika]

There were no rovers on Viking, just orbiters and landers, and to be fair only one of the three or four (depending on how you classify them) life experiments was positive. Still, it's strange - and suspicious - that in the nearly 50 years since there has been no convincing attempt to clarify the results on later missions.

Yes. Highly suspicious.
That means that NASA has specifically made the decision to avoid looking into it.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Yes. Highly suspicious.
That means that NASA has specifically made the decision to avoid looking into it.

And I don't care what they say, this still looks suspiciously like vegetation to me.

 

[Mythopoeika]

And I don't care what they say, this still looks suspiciously like vegetation to me.

View attachment 75988

Yes.

 

[gordonrutter]

And I don't care what they say, this still looks suspiciously like vegetation to me.

View attachment 75988

Arthur C Clarke thought the same until the end of his life.

 

[Xanatic*]

It does but it also looks a bit like the kind of crystal growths you can get in petri dishes. It might be geological.

 

[Erinaceus]

The scale matters as well. Does the picture show a large landscape or a small dried-up pool? It's a bit reminiscent of the old 'grow a crystal garden' thing back in the days when you could buy proper chemistry sets.

 

[maximus otter]

NASA spacecraft found ‘dead’ robot on Mars surface: what is it and to which mission does it belong?​

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been looking down at the surface of the Red Planet for almost 20 years. It is looking for the existence of water as well as providing support for other NASA missions as a key data relay station.

Earlier this month it caught sight of another robot the US space agency sent to the surface of Mars in 2018 but has ceased to function. Despite being ‘dead’, it is still proving useful for studying Mars as NASA explained.

The lander in question was NASA’s InSight which was sent to the Red Planet to study the interior of Mars. “[It] was designed to take the planet’s vital signs: its pulse, temperature, and reflexes,” explains the US space agency. Its landing site is near Mars’ equator on a flat, smooth plain called Elysium Planitia.

It operated for four years until it ran out of power in 2022. InSight was powered by solar panels. The build up of dust on them eventually degraded their effectiveness at recharging the craft’s batteries.

However, it is still useful sitting around on the surface literally collecting dust. “By studying InSight’s landing site over time, scientists can see how quickly dust accumulates, which helps estimate the age of other surface disturbances,” NASA Mars explained.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ar-BB1mRv31

maximus otter

 

[Paul_Exeter]

NASA spacecraft found ‘dead’ robot on Mars surface: what is it and to which mission does it belong?​

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been looking down at the surface of the Red Planet for almost 20 years. It is looking for the existence of water as well as providing support for other NASA missions as a key data relay station.

Earlier this month it caught sight of another robot the US space agency sent to the surface of Mars in 2018 but has ceased to function. Despite being ‘dead’, it is still proving useful for studying Mars as NASA explained.

The lander in question was NASA’s InSight which was sent to the Red Planet to study the interior of Mars. “[It] was designed to take the planet’s vital signs: its pulse, temperature, and reflexes,” explains the US space agency. Its landing site is near Mars’ equator on a flat, smooth plain called Elysium Planitia.

It operated for four years until it ran out of power in 2022. InSight was powered by solar panels. The build up of dust on them eventually degraded their effectiveness at recharging the craft’s batteries.

However, it is still useful sitting around on the surface literally collecting dust. “By studying InSight’s landing site over time, scientists can see how quickly dust accumulates, which helps estimate the age of other surface disturbances,” NASA Mars explained.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ar-BB1mRv31

maximus otter

Also useful to know if you get stranded on Mars and need a radioactive fuel element for your escape back to Earth