[FPSPACE] The Sun (UK) newspaper reports about methane on Mars, claims NASA will have press briefing today saying life found

[John Locker]

TV News full of it here Peter.....

You know what its like.....in fact one reporter suggested it might be 
evidence that we ( man) could have come from Mars.


Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze


Ah well....did I ever tell you about the World War two bomber found on the 
Moon ???


John




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Pesavento" <pjp961 at svol.net>
To: <fpspace at friends-partners.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 1:24 PM
Subject: [FPSPACE] The Sun (UK) newspaper reports about methane on 
Mars,claims NASA will have press briefing today saying life found


> It claims it is an "exclusive"
>
>
>
> http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2133475.ece
>
>
>
> LIFE ON MARS
>
>
>
> By PAUL SUTHERLAND
> Sun Spaceman
>
> Published: Today
>
>
>
>
> ALIEN microbes living just below the Martian soil are responsible for a 
> haze
> of methane around the Red Planet, Nasa scientists believe.
>
>
> The gas, belched in vast quantities in our world by cows, was detected by
> orbiting spacecraft and from Earth using giant telescopes.
>
> Nasa are today expected to confirm its presence during a briefing at their
> Washington HQ.
>
> And the find is seen as exciting new evidence that Martian microbes are
> still alive today.
>
> Some scientists reckon methane is also produced by volcanic processes. But
> there are NO known active volcanoes on Mars.
>
> Furthermore, Nasa has found the gas in the same regions as clouds of water
> vapour, the vital "drink" needed to support life.
>
> Experts speculate that the methane is being emitted as a waste product by
> organisms called methanogens living in water beneath underground ice.
>
> And they would have to be alive today because the methane would otherwise
> have been lost from the Martian atmosphere.
>
> John Murray - a member of the Mars Express European space probe team -
> believes the mini-Martians may be in a form of suspended animation and 
> could
> even be REVIVED.
>
> He has found overwhelming evidence of a vast frozen ocean beneath the dust
> near the Martian equator where simple life could have thrived as microbes.
>
> Today's briefing will feature a star panel of Mars experts headed by 
> Michael
> Meyer, chief scientist for Nasa's Mars programme.
>
> UK Mars expert Professor Colin Pillinger believes the methane can only 
> point
> to the presence of life on the planet.
>
> His ill-fated Beagle 2 probe was carrying a laboratory that would have
> looked directly for such signs of life when it crashed on Christmas Day
> 2003.
>
> Prof Pillinger told The Sun last night: "Methane is a product of biology.
> For methane to be in Mars' atmosphere, there has to be a replenishable
> source.
>
> "The most obvious source of methane is organisms. So if you find methane 
> in
> an atmosphere, you can suspect there is life.
>
> "It's not proof, but it makes it worth a much closer look."
>
> Nasa's findings confirm studies by Europe's Mars Express probe, which has
> been orbiting the planet for five years and also reported signs of methane
> in 2004.
>
> Britain's top space expert Nick Pope last night hailed the new evidence of
> life as "the most important discovery of all time".
>
> He said: "What could be more profound than to know it's not just us out
> there?
>
> "We've really only scratched the surface - it's an absolute certainty that
> there is life out there and we are not alone.
>
> "If there is life on Mars then the logical conclusion is that there must 
> be
> life elsewhere too.
>
> "If it's happened here on Earth, then why shouldn't it happen anywhere? 
> The
> implication is this is a universal law.
>
> "Mars is very similar to Earth. It's about the same size, it's a rocky 
> inner
> planet.
>
> "Most scientists believe it probably has liquid water which is almost
> universally agreed as the pre-requisite for life. I am certain there is
> other life in the Universe and, most likely, intelligent life."
>
> The Red Planet has gripped the public imagination for more than a century 
> as
> a possible home for aliens.
>
> But life could not survive on its surface because, unlike the Earth, Mars
> has no magnetic shield to protect it against deadly sun radiation.
>
> The planet resembles our own in many ways. It is made of rock, it has an
> atmosphere and weather systems.
>
> Although much smaller with a diameter of around 4,222 miles, Mars' day is
> just 40 minutes longer than ours and its tilted axis gives it seasons.
>
> Water has been found in the form of buried ice and scientists believe that
> two billion years ago, Mars was covered with liquid oceans.
>
> Proof that water is still on Mars came in 2007 when Mars Express used
> ground-piercing radar to study the region around the planet's South Pole.
>
> Nasa's latest lander Phoenix dug up chunks of Martian ice last year. It
> swiftly evaporated into the thin atmosphere.
>
> Nasa have controversially hit the headlines before for claiming evidence 
> for
> Martians.
>
> In 1996, they said they had discovered fossilised organisms in a meteorite
> from the planet.
>
> But other scientists were sceptical.
>
> Today's conference will be broadcast live online by NASA TV
> (www.nasa.gov/ntv) at 7pm.
>
>
>
>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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