April 2004
From RmmsWiki
General Meeting - April, 2004
Dewey brought in a condensed version of a West Wing show that had a running sub theme about NASA particularly focusing on Mars Direct (mentioned directly), Mars or Bust pin, actual costs and a hard-boiled political operative being convinced to at least consider the possibility of such a program. Altogether refreshing and hopeful to see such a mainstream show openly and non-derisively considering the topic as a legitimate public interest topic.
The discussions then ranged far and wide in bringing up numerous articles from Sky and Telescope, Astronomy, Scientific American, Science and others regarding the data and some of the preliminary analyses and speculation re: Spirit and Opportunity data and their implications of the nature and duration of free-flowing water on Mars and the possibilities of biotic processes resulting from that-- highly speculative at this point, but intriguing nonetheless. Tim brought up several sites on his laptop showing some of the pictures from these missions with more discussion of the probable and possible interpretations of the data, especially regarding the surface rind found on the scraped rocks, rock composition that is very similar to some of the martian meteorites found on Earth, and Bill in particular had some excellent explanations for the non-geologists as to the meanings and competing interpretations for some of the geological and geochemical discoveries up to this point. Clearly more exploration is needed and preferably manned to maximize the collection and analysis of the data.
There was also discussion about the atmospheric methane detection on Mars by four different teams and the plans for more tests and the ongoing debate about whether it is biotically or abiotically produced and how. The results of Ed Lu's 0% bone loss after six months on the ISS and potential implications for long-term space travel was also brought up in the meeting. Some talk too about the known high obliquities of the Martian axis tilts having resulted in the equatorial regions having polar-type snows and water deposition with soil supersaturation and resultant breakouts and channel flows during warm periods.
On 5-17-04 author David Grinspoon will be our guest speaker to talk to us about Venus Revisited and we've decided to open this to the public and announce it thru various media outlets for greater attendance. The Environmental Building will be the same location but in conference room 134 for better seating and power point capabilities.
