Full articles at Sources.
We're just another rock in space.
Source: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/earth-sized-planets-solar-system-common-101028.html
Earth-Sized Alien Planets May Be Surprisingly Common, Study Suggests
By Charles Q. Choi
SPACE.com Contributor
posted: 28 October 2010
02:14 pm ET
There may be a bonanza of Earth-size alien worlds in the universe
More water on the Moon.
Water on the Moon: a Billion Gallons
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/water-moon-nasa-impact-probe/story?id=11939079
The Martian Mud-Bath
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8095368/Nasa-uncovers-new-life-on-Mars-evidence-after-rover-got-stuck-in-the-mud.html
Nasa uncovers new 'life on Mars' evidence after rover got stuck in the mud
Fresh evidence that water formed on Mars in potentially life
supporting environments more recently than previously thought has been
uncovered by Nasa scientists.
By Andrew Hough
Published: 7:30AM BST 29 Oct 2010
The discovery was made after the Spirit rover got stuck in the mud.
Researchers at the American space agency made the discovery after the
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit became stuck in wet ground on the red
planet earlier this year.
Astronomers have become excited by the latest discovery, which they
say proves that water favourable for life formed on the red planet
more recently than previously thought.
Nasa’s latest study, reported in the Journal of Geophysical Research,
concluded the liquid likely formed from melting snow, which then
trickled into the subsurface and dissolved.
It contained several minerals including hematite, silica and gypsum
while ferric sulphates, which are more soluble, also were carried down
by the water.
None of these minerals are exposed at the surface, which is covered by
windblown sand and dust.
“On Earth … hydrothermal systems provide the environmental conditions,
water, nutrients and energy sources needed to sustain robust microbial
communities,” concluded the Nasa team, who are based at Nasa’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
“It seems likely the region (on Mars) … may have likewise supported a
habitable environment.”
According to Nasa, the Mars explorer became stuck in April last year
when its left wheels broke through the surface’s crust called “Troy”
and fell into soft sand below.
The soil exposed by Spirit’s spinning wheels carries clues that Mars
may still be wet.
The seepage could have happened during cyclical climate changes in
periods when Mars tilted farther on its axis.
"Liquid water and life kind of go together," said Ray Arvidson, of
Washington University in St. Louis, who was involved in the project.
Nasa abandoned plans to extract the rover earlier this year.
The study comes after Nasa unveiled bold plans for send humans sent
one-way to Mars to permanently colonise other planets in space.
