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NASA to announce discovery of “flowing water” on Mars? Update: “Five to ten swimming pools”; Update: Photos added

posted at 9:15 am on December 6, 2006 by Allahpundit
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This would be … significant, yes?

Update: The announcement’s supposed to come at a press conference scheduled for 1 p.m. You can watch live over the

web here.

Update: The Daily Mail has photos.

NASA researchers have documented the formation of new craters on the plant’s surface and found bright, light-coloured deposits in gullies that were not present in previous photos.

They concluded the deposits – possibly mud, salt or frost – were left there when water recently cascaded through the channels.

Update: Omri Ceren is liveblogging the presser.

Update: The images are intriguing.


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Looks like another Bush attempt to take the focus away from Iraq.

dalewalt on December 6, 2006 at 9:21 AM

Space is so freakin’ cool

JasonG on December 6, 2006 at 9:24 AM

Cool? COOL? We just HAD to send our ‘probes’ to Mars, melt their precious icecaps with the emissions from our rockets and robots, and now you think it’s COOL?

dalewalt on December 6, 2006 at 9:26 AM

Yeah. I can’t wait until we give the Martians SUV’s so they can warm their planet up. An Inconvenient Truth, Mars style!

JasonG on December 6, 2006 at 9:38 AM

Remember the movie “Mars Needs Women”? Let’s send them Hillary, Nancy, Babs, Cindy…any others?

windbag on December 6, 2006 at 9:39 AM

SWEET! BASS FISHING ON MARS!

I wonder if Bill Dance ever thought about being an astronaut?

natesnake on December 6, 2006 at 9:43 AM

SWEET! BASS FISHING ON MARS!

You might be a redneck if…

JasonG on December 6, 2006 at 9:49 AM

Boy is this announcement going to cost us a lot of money.

Dread Pirate Roberts VI on December 6, 2006 at 9:52 AM

I question the timing.

Hey! That’s my line!

Fine. I’ll give you that one.

I QUESTION THE ABILITY TO PULL A BASS TRACKER BOAT BEHIND A SPACE SHUTTLE!

natesnake on December 6, 2006 at 9:58 AM

You know, there are some really smart people in this world…

Really Smart Person thinking:
“Hmmmmm….Let me see. (looking at a tiny dot in the night sky). I’m going to shoot a rocket at that dot, wait for a year or so, have the rocket slow down, land on the dot, release a go-kart and drive the go-kart around. All by remote control. Piece of cake!” *Goes off and begins scribbling arcane formulas…*

Absolutely freakin’ amazing.

BacaDog on December 6, 2006 at 10:00 AM

Another world for Islam to dominate!

Allah be praised!!!

Now, how do I get my camel there?

ej_pez on December 6, 2006 at 10:10 AM

Let’s send them Hillary, Nancy, Babs, Cindy…

Nooooooo! That could cause in interplanetary war!!!

db on December 6, 2006 at 10:11 AM

Flowing water is just one step away from a full-blown Martian invasion.

frankj on December 6, 2006 at 10:11 AM

The little green men who kidnapped me a few years ago showed me their sub-terranian base on Mars, so this isn’t surprising to me. They were laughing as they showed me how they are the ones secretly warming the planet with their invisible heat rays pointed at the southern hemisphere.

SouthernGent on December 6, 2006 at 10:17 AM

Question the timing of THIS. National Geographic agogo.

seejanemom on December 6, 2006 at 10:18 AM

If I have stuttered my posts this am….please accept my apologies. I am getting Norton “Engine Error” messages. Fresh VENT wouldn’t even show up for me for an hour.

seejanemom on December 6, 2006 at 10:20 AM

The little green men who kidnapped me a few years ago showed me their sub-terranian base on Mars, so this isn’t surprising to me. They were laughing as they showed me how they are the ones secretly warming the planet with their invisible heat rays pointed at the southern hemisphere.

Strange. The same thing happened to me. Except upon returning home, I was probed.

On second thought, maybe it was just mescaline and Uncle Foley.

natesnake on December 6, 2006 at 10:26 AM

Hmmm. Let’s wait and see. Wasn’t the atmospheric pressure supposed to be too low on Mars in order to sustain even a pot-hole of water? Not a phycisist, but what do you all think? Instead, I wonder if they’ll announce evidence of “flowing water” on Mars that existed once upon a time.

Chris L. on December 6, 2006 at 10:27 AM

They were laughing as they showed me how they are the ones secretly warming the planet with their invisible heat rays pointed at the southern hemisphere.

I am getting Norton “Engine Error” messages.

They’re not engine errors, seejane. They’ve mis-aimed the rays…. Hmm. Is Cheney hunting up there today?

BacaDog on December 6, 2006 at 10:29 AM

This is a scam. We all NASA is run by BIG FLOWING WATER. What will our exit strategy for Mars be anyway. I say no Blood for Flowing Water!

BohicaTwentyTwo on December 6, 2006 at 10:32 AM

We’ve got enough water. The important question is do they have beer up there?

JammieWearingFool on December 6, 2006 at 10:34 AM

Water on Mars?

Well, that can only be Bush’s fault! He must have had a team of govt agents blow up the Martian levies just like he did in New Orleans during Katrina!

The False Dervish on December 6, 2006 at 10:36 AM

I just hope they don’t have trans fats up there. Now that could be a problem.

JammieWearingFool on December 6, 2006 at 10:38 AM

I question the timing…

Allahpundit Headliner

Heh.

Jaibones on December 6, 2006 at 11:00 AM

I wonder how much it would cost to give free tickets to residents of San Francisco to immigrate to Mars. They could have their Moonbat heaven and we could get San Francisco back.

Maybe we should start a collection.

omegaram on December 6, 2006 at 11:00 AM

Southern Gent,

The little green men who kidnapped me a few years ago showed me their sub-terranian base on Mars

There can’t be a subterranian base on Mars. It would have to be submartian.

The Monster on December 6, 2006 at 11:06 AM

Global warming is melting the Martian polar ice caps. I can seek it with my nekkid eyes.

Attila (Pillage Idiot) on December 6, 2006 at 11:12 AM

Remember the movie “Mars Needs Women”? Let’s send them Hillary, Nancy, Babs, Cindy…any others?

Those individuals remind me more of the movie “Mars Attacks!”

Dave Shay on December 6, 2006 at 11:18 AM

Iraq doesn’t seem to be working out so Bush is just going on a gallactic search for oil.

Zetterson on December 6, 2006 at 11:19 AM

Problem:

When praying to Allah on Mars, which way does one turn in order to face Mecca?

Bigger problem:

Which way to turn when praying onboard the Starship Enterprise?

SWLiP on December 6, 2006 at 11:26 AM

SWEET! BASS FISHING ON MARS!

Where can I get an anti-matter thruster for my bass boat?

RedWinged Blackbird on December 6, 2006 at 11:28 AM

… and we would of got away with it too if it wasn’t for those pesky kids and their dogs…

Bush’s comments on Karl Rove’s Solar activity machine that is causing solar system wide global warming.

E L Frederick (Sniper One) on December 6, 2006 at 11:31 AM

They concluded the deposits – possibly mud, salt or frost – were left there when water recently cascaded through the channels.

Global cooling?

Valiant on December 6, 2006 at 11:32 AM

I heard that on Coast to Coast last night. I didn’t know if what to think being on a show that talks about Alien probing as if it were just a natural occurence.

Drtuddle on December 6, 2006 at 11:52 AM

BASS FISHING ON MARS!

Sounds like a euphemisms for something:

“Well, he’s two days behind his project delivery date. He’s too busy Bass Fishng on Mars.”

“The whole congregation looks like they’ve gone Bass Fishing on Mars while I preach.”

“Hey, honey, what say we forget about the dishes tonight and do some Bass Fishing on Mars.”

“Not tonight, darling, I feel like I’ve been Bass Fishing on Mars all day.”

Come up with your own!

Gottafang on December 6, 2006 at 11:52 AM

Boy is this announcement going to cost us a lot of money.

No it won’t. The NASA budget is 0.7% of the overall federal budget. Compare that to 33% spent on social programs. Back a few years ago when the Mars polar landers malfunctioned, everyone was complaining about how much of a waste of money it was. Each American spent about .50 cents for that probe. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t mind .50 cents of my tax money going for space exploration.

arteest on December 6, 2006 at 12:12 PM

Send them Hillary? Oh, I see another Whitewater land deal…Mars-style…

JetBoy on December 6, 2006 at 12:18 PM

Seattle moonbats will be thrilled — they just love water. Just think, another planet with running water! Who knows what kind of Martian fungus that the moonbats can grow on the inside of the lining of their brains now!

CyberCipher on December 6, 2006 at 12:25 PM

Timing … science … NASA’s been batting .1000 so far on half-baked indicators of life – anyone remember the LIFE ON MARS cover story – based on an electron microscope pix of a eensy weensy rod shape that was 100 times smaller than an actual bacteria rod shape inside a slice of a piece of meterorite found on Mars .. oh wait, got that mixed up with our Hollywood space acheivements – a rock found in Antarctica which was obviously, undoubtably from the planet Mars. How’s that for science?
The hapless presidential candidate Bob Dole had naively imagined that his announcement of his running mate, Jack Kemp would be on the cover that week, not some dinky millimetric rod. The story died a natural death, having no oxygen to support it, shortly thereafter and nothing has been heard of it since. Water on Mars, the flat statement, turns out to be not actually water, but circumstantial evidence that a liquid passed by once, obviously recently. What is it we’re supposed to be diverting our attention from to this?

naliaka on December 6, 2006 at 12:27 PM

There can’t be a subterranian base on Mars. It would have to be submartian.

The Monster

Southern Gent,

The little green men who kidnapped me a few years ago showed me their sub-terranian base on Mars

There can’t be a subterranian base on Mars. It would have to be submartian. The Monster

Actually, it would be a SubAerian Base … greek root, not latin root.

Kristopher on December 6, 2006 at 12:27 PM

Wow, a base on the South Pole of the Moon by 2020? Why the wait? Lets send Al and Tipper over there pronto!

kiakjones on December 6, 2006 at 12:29 PM

NASA should make an statement claiming that they’ve discovered a big black square rock on Mars and Muhammed living under it in an underground Mosque. “Muhammed (whose face can not show you) says it is the religious duty of all muslims to live on Mars with him and worship allah and the moon orbiting Mars. We’ll help get you there for a super low low price!”

Tony737 on December 6, 2006 at 12:30 PM

“Bush don’t care about Mars people.”

thebookkeeper on December 6, 2006 at 12:40 PM

Duh. Of COURSE mars has water. What the heck did they think martians drank?

Kevin M on December 6, 2006 at 12:40 PM

NASA should make an statement claiming that they’ve discovered a big black square rock on Mars and Muhammed living under it in an underground Mosque. “Muhammed (whose face can not show you) says it is the religious duty of all muslims to live on Mars with him and worship allah and the moon orbiting Mars. We’ll help get you there for a super low low price!”

Tony737 on December 6, 2006 at 12:30 PM

OH MY GOD!
The man is an absolute GENIUS, I tell you.

CyberCipher on December 6, 2006 at 12:42 PM

Next they’ll be STUNNED when they find cows roaming the plains of Mars. As if martians don’t eat meat.

Geez, NASA is full of crazy people.

Kevin M on December 6, 2006 at 12:42 PM

Which way to turn when praying onboard the Starship Enterprise?

SWLiP on December 6, 2006 at 11:26 AM

Umm, one does not turn any direction when praying aboard the Enterprise.

Why? Because it’s in the Future, and there are no Muslims in the future. That’s how we end up with the Starship Enterprise in the first place.

If there were Muslims in the future it would be the Camelship Ackbarprise sailing the deserts of Arabia.

wearyman on December 6, 2006 at 1:00 PM

the real question is

when will Walmart open

EricPWJohnson on December 6, 2006 at 1:12 PM

Must-Have-Spice…

Viper1 on December 6, 2006 at 1:24 PM

the real question is

when will Walmart open

EricPWJohnson on December 6, 2006 at 1:12 PM

Ummm…

Halliburton-Mars has everything under control.

infidel4life on December 6, 2006 at 1:38 PM

“…broke through the dam ice, I don’t me the ‘damn ice!’ but the dam ice.”

If you laughed at that you’re as much a geek as I.

12thman on December 6, 2006 at 1:39 PM

when will Walmart open

EricPWJohnson on December 6, 2006 at 1:12 PM

Can’t open a WalMart until they can get a shuttle full of disgruntled, underpaid, underinsured, exploited workers up there, Eric. You know, something for Katie to showcase on the premier episode of her CMN (Central Martian Network) newscast.

BacaDog on December 6, 2006 at 1:40 PM

China has to get their space program up and running before you can have a Walmart on Mars. Everyone knows you can’t have a Walmart without cheap goods from China!
And that will have to wait until they can steal some more technology from the U.S. But thats O.K. because they are really our friends, and just want to help us with cheaper products.

Gooch on December 6, 2006 at 2:01 PM

I think that Virgin Record guy will be the first guy to pay for a Martitian Spring bottle of water. Probably cost him a million a 16 oz bottle. Serve it to all his Hollywood buddies.

Drtuddle on December 6, 2006 at 2:03 PM

Flowing water on Mars from….GLOBAL WARMING ON MARS! Quick give Al Gore a one-way ticket to Mars so he can “save the planet”.

vcferlita on December 6, 2006 at 2:18 PM

Great! Where can I sign up to go!

Somehow, then MSM will have some yokel wearing bib overalls on the camera saying:

Aww, we gatta fix da problems down here before we go up there.

You watch, it’ll happen.

I can’t think of a better way to spend my tax dollars than to get to Mars!

Kini on December 6, 2006 at 2:26 PM

Cool! A hydroelectric power source, gazillions of miles away. I smell energy independence from the Muslims right around the corner. The only problem is getting all that power back here…

RD on December 6, 2006 at 2:26 PM

No way is this water. You heard it here first. Remember when “life” was found from a meteor. That was whack, this will be too, just give it time.

Mojave Mark on December 6, 2006 at 2:31 PM

This is a story? Water on Mars? Friggin Bugs Bunny told me this was true about 40 years ago! For those too young to remember this, here’s the proof…

Marvin The Martian has a whole host of space age tools to aid him in his efforts. The Illudium Pew 36 Explosive Space is part of his arsenal. Marvin The Martian’s Disintegrating Pistol is also a tool of his trade. Beware, it can also shoot in reverse! Marvin The Martian also has an army of 10,000 Instant Martians (”Just add water”). But those intimidating, gangly warriors have been known to fall off the sides of space stations and disappear forever.

http://looneytunes.warnerbros.com/stars_of_the_show/marvin_the_martian/marvin_story.html

soulsirkus on December 6, 2006 at 2:37 PM

Writing in the journal Science, the researchers led by Michael Malin said the properties and settings of the deposits in the gullies are consistent with water flow.

Wow, had to read that twice…any relation? /kidding)

Anyway, I’m telling the wife I’m going fishin’, back in a decade or so.

shooter on December 6, 2006 at 2:42 PM

Probably just those wacky interstellar travelers from Andromeda dumping their septic tanks.

Sasnak on December 6, 2006 at 2:59 PM

You mean Ron L. Hubbard may be right after all?

the real question is

when will Walmart open

EricPWJohnson on December 6, 2006 at 1:12 PM

HaHa, that is funny.
Send the first manned probe without supplies, look at the money it would save us.

right2bright on December 6, 2006 at 3:10 PM

Kang: “Foolish humans…they think they’ve got the only planet that has water.”

Kodos: “Hahahahaha! If they only knew that their ‘water’ is the stuff we vomit from our eyes.”

James on December 6, 2006 at 3:16 PM

Let’s hurry up and get there so somebody else for a change can say, damn’d illegal aliens.

Speakup on December 6, 2006 at 3:41 PM

I heard O.J. already wrote a book about hypothetically murdering all the martians and that Larry King has dibs on interviewing him from inside Wolf Blitzer’s ‘07 Lexus Mars-rauder SUV while on the red planet. O.J. will then tell the tale of how he was hired by Haliburton, the CIA, the MIB and the Ghost of Richard Nixon to single-handedly (no pun intended) smite the martians to steal their precious oil.

You see–that isn’t water NASA discovered…IT’S OIL!!!

robblefarian on December 6, 2006 at 3:45 PM

The only problem is getting all that power back here…

RD on December 6, 2006 at 2:26 PM

Plastics….

ScottG on December 6, 2006 at 4:06 PM

No it won’t. The NASA budget is 0.7% of the overall federal budget. Compare that to 33% spent on social programs. Back a few years ago when the Mars polar landers malfunctioned, everyone was complaining about how much of a waste of money it was. Each American spent about .50 cents for that probe. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t mind .50 cents of my tax money going for space exploration.

arteest on December 6, 2006 at 12:12 PM

Exactly. The space programs have been the catalyst for our country’s technological advances. Nano tech, high-speed computers, random ingenuity- all come from the abstract problems posed by space exploration. It’s a brilliant way to employ people, keep our country on the cutting edge of science and engineering and keep young people’s interest in science and engineering.

It’s the best use of tax dollars aside from protecting our nation-although much of NASA’s work has been used in our defense systems throughout the years. Bravo on this interesting discovery.

NTWR on December 6, 2006 at 4:12 PM

arteest and NTWR, you both nailed it!

I hate to write the next in the same comment…but can’t help myself…

Ahmadinejad will hold a conference soon, with 50 experts, to conclude if this is true or not. Mars scientists will be barred for objectivity’s sake.

Entelechy on December 6, 2006 at 4:21 PM

Flowing water on Mars from….GLOBAL WARMING ON MARS! Quick give Al Gore a one-way ticket to Mars so he can “save the planet”. vcferlita

Yup. It’s worse than we thought. Our SUVs are causing GALACTIC WARMING! Look for Pluto to melt away completely. At this rate, in 2 years, Algore will have become so hot, he will implode in upon himself opening up a WARM HOLE, which will revolutionize interstellar travel and give us valuable access to even cheaper labor. S’all good.

Ken Tankerous on December 6, 2006 at 5:32 PM

Yes, we’ll have to fight off the Jihadis first, but Star Trek will still be doable, even from the stone age.

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/sapringer/STONETREKCREDITS.html

TheSev on December 6, 2006 at 5:48 PM

Scientists say they have photographic evidence that suggests liquid water may have been on the planet as little as five years ago. (from the Daily Mail Article)

They got nothing. The article say “may have been” …. maybe water …… maybe as little as five years ago. They have no clue. If this is their idea of a big find, they must be hurting.

Maxx on December 6, 2006 at 6:36 PM

BASS FISHING ON MARS!

Now where did I put that can of sandworms?

serenity on December 6, 2006 at 7:04 PM

Great photos. Water is the key.

If it were not for the redistribution of wealth favored by the democraps in the 1960’s and 70’s we would already have a manned presences on the Red Planet.

The legacy of the Democrat Party: Welfare for a few instead of scientific advances for all.

Zorro on December 6, 2006 at 7:12 PM

Hey, these photos weren’t provided to Reuters or AP, were they? Who knows what kind of stringers they have on Mars. Maybe even Uranus.

pencilnub on December 6, 2006 at 7:18 PM

stringers they have on Mars. Maybe even Uranus

… worse than dingleberries

mikeyboss on December 6, 2006 at 8:33 PM

All for naught, its a sand flow, from all the high winds (300 mph winds).
You read it here first.

shooter on December 6, 2006 at 9:52 PM

I was going to go deeper on this, but I’m too lazy at this point other than to say that the idiocy of evolutionists never ceases to amaze.

Look how that Daily Mail article begins (as they do virtually all articles whenever something looks like there is a slight chance of something like water in space):

Striking new images of the Red Planet have raised hopes life could be found on Mars after all.

First of all, even if it were possible for all the machines neccessary for even the most simple forms of life to somehow all come in to existence and come together at the exact same time (because if one thing is off, the entire thing fails) in water and without any design or influence, simply seeing water doesn’t mean it will happen. I don’t believe it’s possible in the first place, but even if it were, the chances (ah, “chance” and “time”, the Gods of evolution) of it happening are so slim it’s laughable. But just because it’s part of the Darwinist religion here, the brainwashed massese have been convinced that water=life.

Am I the only one who sees how ridiculous this is? This is as frustrating as reading constant discoveries that fly in the face of evolutionary theory, having the entire article talking about the real science and discovery, only to have them close with some obligatory evolution line like “… shows that it evolved quite differently than we had initially thought” or “… evolved much quicker than we though”, or any number of other similar and ridiculous comments.

Report the science, and leave the fairytales to Disney.

RightWinged on December 7, 2006 at 2:12 AM

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