Space Forum / Space Science / January 2005

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Please excuse this naive query:
How is it possible to know that we have not just deposited some "earth
DNA" on Titan, via a single (or multiple) viral or bacterial
hitchhiker?

January 28, 2005
Not a single high resolution pancam today.
Not one. Whatever could Steve Squyres be hiding?
Thomas Lee Elifritz

Well, the Microscopic Imager view is about 30 mm across.  It is more
like a hand lens than a microscope.  Our "lichen" would therefore be
about 2 mm or so in diameter and about .3 mm thick.  It looks like it

In http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMHB881Y3E_0.html, the
ESA said that "instead of lava, Titanian volcanoes spew very cold ice."
Does this mean that Titan's interior is warm enough for liquid water to
exist? Or are these volcanoes just oozing warmed-but-not-melted ...

January 26, 2005
Spirit Daily Conspiracy Update
When confronted with mind boggling rock formations, not only do they
turn their cameras away, they image, dust, sky and the sundial, and then

sorry if this is a repeat post...
How hot would a nearly ideal black body object get in Mercury orbit?
I've read that Mercury's daytime temperatures can spike to 800F, but my
calculation for average temperatures at Mercury orbit was 440K/328F.

Would it be possible to set up a circular, polar orbit around Mercury
such that it always followed Mercury's terminator?
Also, could such a "dawn tracking orbit" pass over the same point at
the north and south poles each orbit?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4196261.stm
Scientists will comb data sent back from Titan by the Huygens probe for
the chemical signature of life in a bid to identify the moon's source
of methane.

-> It is generally presumed that the energy of metabolism in these systems is
-> derived from geothermal energy, the heat of the Earth, as in subsea black
-> smoker ecosystems. There are aneorobes, all sorts of Archeons, thermophiles,
-> extremophiles, halophiles, etc. You can ...

-> "It was a surprise to find hydrogen was the main energy source for
-> microbes in the hot springs," Pace said. "This project is also
-> interesting in the context of microbiology because it's one of the few
-> times we've been able to study microbes to get information on an ...

January 24, 2005
Spirit Daily Update
So, when confronted with bizarre Mars rock formations that defy
description and beg investigation, what does Squeers and his band of

I don't think it is lichen, but it is cuter than a button.
http://www.lyle.org/mars/imagery/2M159393327EFFA2HPP2906M2M1.JPG.html
Thanks for posting it.  best,
Michael

January 22, 2005
Just when you thought life couldn't possibly get any weirder ...
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/pancam/2005-01-22/
I admit I am having some trouble with the interpretation here, but

Why are the photos that return from titan not perfect, dont get me wrong its
a bloody amazing achievment to land a probe there, but surely thats the
difficult bit, if a picture is received from a quality camera which I assume
it is, surely the picture should be perfect, or is the ...