SAM Spotted Something – Curious?
Posted by Michelle Moquin on November 21st, 2012
Good morning!
Alien chitchat is found here quite often, although not often enough for those that thrive on this stuff. So this one is for all of you that can’t get enough.
Awhile ago comments were posted about life on Mars, and the recent Mars probe. Today, I read of a major discovery on Mars that will soon be revealed to us. “Curiosity” discovered something, and I’m curious to know what it is. Are you?
Here’s the write:
Mars Rover ‘Curiosity’ Team Reportedly Will Reveal Major Discovery In December
By: Mike Wall
Published: 11/20/2012 01:35 PM EST on SPACE.com
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has apparently made a discovery “for the history books,” but we’ll have to wait a few weeks to learn what the new Red Planet find may be, media reports suggest.
The discovery was made by Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars instrument, NPR reported today (Nov. 20). SAM is the rover’s onboard chemistry lab, and it’s capable of identifying organic compounds — the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it.
SAM apparently spotted something interesting in a soil sample Curiosity’s huge robotic arm delivered to the instrument recently.
“This data is gonna be one for the history books,” Curiosity chief scientist John Grotzinger, of Caltech in Pasadena, told NPR. “It’s looking really good.”
The rover team won’t be ready to announce just what SAM found for several weeks, NPR reported, as scientists want to check and double-check the results. Indeed, Grotzinger confirmed to SPACE.com that the news will come out at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, which takes place Dec. 3-7 in San Francisco.
The $2.5 billion Curiosity rover landed inside Mars’ huge Gale Crater on Aug. 5, kicking off a two-year mission to determine if Mars has ever been capable of supporting microbial life.
The car-size robot carries 10 different instruments to aid in its quest, but SAM is the rover’s heart, taking up more than half of its science payload by weight.
In addition to analyzing soil samples, SAM also takes the measure of Red Planet air. Many scientists are keen to see if Curiosity detects any methane, which is produced by many lifeforms here on Earth. A SAM analysis of Curiosity’s first few sniffs found no definitive trace of the gas in the Martian atmosphere, but the rover will keep looking.
Curiosity began driving again Friday (Nov. 16) after spending six weeks testing its soil-scooping gear at a site called “Rocknest.” The rover will soon try out its rock-boring drill for the first time on the Red Planet, scientists have said.
*******
Click here for the video.
Howie: As you always say, “Curious minds want to know.” And this girl is curious. Can you give us any hints? Or will it spoil the surprise?
PrP: I always enjoy your LOVE poems. I HOPE today brings you your LOVE.
Readers: I HOPE where ever you are, you are safe, happy and healthy….
PeACe & LOVE…
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
November 21st, 2012 at 1:51 pm
To my dear friends who voted Romney and who made it their business to write in on this blog and put forward the republican point of view, I say bravo.
To my dear friends that with a bit of sour grapes lament that MSNBC helped Obama to win I say: If it is OK for Fox to be tin hat right wing then it should be OK for commentators on MSNBC to. be pro-Obama. The hard news reports should be unbiased on either channel but I guess it is too late for Fox to change.
November 21st, 2012 at 2:03 pm
Michelle, when the latest finding is revealed by the Curiosity rover, you will be stunned. I wish I could tell you now but I could lose my job.
Lewis
November 21st, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Fuck you and obama. It is simply laughable for MSNBC to give the impression they are trying to battle a well-deserved impression or label that they are pro-Obama.
No network has ever sucked-up to any President as MSNBC has done towards Obama. Who seriously believes this will change during the second term?
MSNBC is many things, but a serious source of news that is willing or capable of judging Barack Obama on the merits it is absolutely not!
November 21st, 2012 at 2:06 pm
MSNBC definately won’t keep Obama accountable… everything will be spun in his favor.
November 21st, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Does MSNBC have a liberal slant? Certainly. But I do find that they present facts over the fiction that Fox presents. I also find they don’t distort so blatantly like Fox shamelessly does.
An example: in the Massachusetts Senate election of 2012, democrat Elizabeth Warren, running against GOP and Tea Party darling Scott Brown, stated “We’ve got bridges and roads in need of repair, and thousands of people in need of work. Why aren’t we rebuilding America?
Our competitors are putting people to work, building the future. China invests 9 percent of its GDP in infrastructure. America, we’re at just 2.4 percent. We can do better. We can build a foundation for a strong new economy and get people in Massachusetts to work right now.
” How did Fox Nation, the internet arm of Fox “News”, headline that statement? ELIZABETH WARREN PRAISES COMMUNIST CHINA. Find a Rachel Maddow or Lawrence O’Donnell example like that.
November 21st, 2012 at 2:07 pm
MSNBC doesn’t invent their own reality, their coverage is based in fact and it’s not a propaganda arm of the democratic party.
November 21st, 2012 at 2:08 pm
I miss the days when journalist and news organizations adhered to delivering neutral and objective news; simple and straight just give me the facts. MSNBC does dabble in advocacy journalism, which is not ideal but far better than the unabashed propaganda from Fox News; factual context being the big differentiating factor between the two organizations.
November 21st, 2012 at 2:09 pm
First of all, Rachel Maddow, the most progressive MSNBC host, has criticized Obama’s more troubling policies– the drone wars, the Afghanistan surge, the failure to close Guantanamo– many times. As for MSNBC being the “liberal Fox,” it’s a false equivalence.
Yes, its hosts are mildly or strongly left-leaning, with the exception of Joe Scarborough, but they do not stoop to the sort of outrageous, coordinated prevarication that infects the Fox network.
A respect for the truth is the quality that elevates MSNBC far above Murdoch’s propaganda machine.
November 21st, 2012 at 2:10 pm
MSNBC will be lucky to be around for 4 more years
November 21st, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Have people already forgotten that we just ended a nearly-two-year-long election cycle? Maddow, Hayes, O’Donnell and other hosts and guests on MSNBC have often been harshly critical of President Obama on issues such as Gitmo, drones, caving on the public option, caving on the Bush tax cut extension, executive over-reach marriage equality (pre-evolution), to name a handful.
In fact, Maddow has done some scathing longer-than-usual segments on some of those issues. But we’ve just gone through an election that started “officially” more than 18 months ago.
And of course MSNBC, like ALL news outlets, is going to devote more time to immediate political stories during an election cycle than to other stories.
November 21st, 2012 at 2:37 pm
What has me keyed up is how NASA’s acting like that person who says “i’m so excited about the christmas gift I got you, I want to just tell you now!”
Coincidentally the Pentagon spent 100 grand sponsoring a panel discussion about how knowledge of intelligent alien life might affect world religions.
I predict evidence of past life revealed by NASA next month, then the Pentagon revealing alien contact in 2013. What say ye, Howie.
November 21st, 2012 at 2:39 pm
No Negative stories against for and no Positive stories for Romney? Really, and that is why someone is calling them a new Fox News?
Lets check:
1) Fox news does not run news, but GOP/GOTP Talking points; MSNBC runs news on both side of the spectrum
2) Fox News actually makes up Faux News stories when they do not have anything else; MSNBC actually uses Facts
3) While there was some Negatives about Obama that MSNBC news did run, was there ANYTHING Positive about either the GOTP or Romney?
November 21st, 2012 at 2:59 pm
Marion, I can identify with you. My republican friends are like this copy editor I read about in today’s HuffPost.
————————————–
A copy editor at the Helena Independent Record has been disciplined after adding the word “allegedly” to a sentence in an Associated Press story that originally read, “Obama was born in Hawaii.”
—————————————
It is absolutely incredible, at this stage of the game, that so many here are still harping on the birth drivel.
It really makes one wonder if any of these people have ever actually read a newspaper, book, or periodical.
It is truly embarrassing.
November 21st, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Marion, I have the same kind of “friends.” I used to pretend to be one of them, but now this is what I say to those racists and bigots.
You people seriously need to re-examine your lives. Also, do us a favour and fucking sterilize yourselves. Please don’t pass those genes along.
November 21st, 2012 at 3:10 pm
GOOD AFTERNOON TO EVERYONE!
As we come up to the Thanksgiving holiday, it’s appropriate to remember all that we’ve been given in this great nation — that we take a moment to thank those who have come before and contemplate what we are leaving behind for generations to come.
This Thanksgiving, let us not only raise a glass to the blessings of peace and prosperity, but also to the countless men and women who have given their lives fighting and dying for that freedom.
Lots to get done yet, but don’t forget to take a look at some of our holiday offerings below, as well as the latest news and analysis from John Hayward in the Human Events blog.
May God bless you and your family — stay safe and have a restful Thanksgiving!
Stay calm and carry on,
– Adam Tragone, Managing Editor
November 21st, 2012 at 3:23 pm
MSNBC hammered President Obama for his performance at the first debate. Morning Joe is the biggest, ugliest, GOP propaganda zone on cable. The last month of the campaign was the GOP politicizing Libya. Every week was a new conspiracy on CNN. They had Bush people on there telling we “lost Libya” all desperately trying to salvage their foreign policy credentials.
November 21st, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Pro Obama stances are nothing more than smart people backing smart policy.
November 21st, 2012 at 3:26 pm
I have friends who say the same thing about MSNBC. They accuse them of being as bad as Fox. My reaction:
The Short Answer: No
The Long Answer: No
But does it really matter? Those who tune into MSNBC are looking for their liberal fix, just like those who tune into Fox are jonesin’ for a conservative outlook.
For the most part these two news outlets are preaching in a bubble, that has been sucked up by a vacuum!
November 21st, 2012 at 3:26 pm
I stopped watching MSNBC (which used to be my main news source along with NPR) about a year and half ago when it became evident to me that they were not interested in providing news. They were becoming part of the Democratic Party.
I vote Democrat about 90% of the time, but if I want to hear propaganda I would prefer to hear it from the party not an organization pretending to be a news source.
November 21st, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Yes MSNBC supports progressive ideas but I’ve seen them take the president to task regularly during his first term. They nailed him after the first debate and if he concedes too much during the upcoming negotiations about the fiscal cliff they will be the very first to criticize him.
Their reporting is based on provable facts and data and they do correct themselves when they get it wrong.
Do they have a progressive bias?
Yep, but there is no equivalence with Faux news which regularly just makes stuff up: “some people are saying”.
November 21st, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Russ, there is a fundamental difference between choosing what news to report and making news up
November 21st, 2012 at 10:02 pm
Check sources out of US fr real facts, no ‘liberal ‘ or ‘conservave’ slant. I read/watch Jazeera, BBC, & a few others…US media padnders to their audience (party) and advertisers, I’m not interested in gathering my talking points that way…
PrP, I liked your poem as well, I can be a romantic – sometimes.
Luv, Zen Lill
July 2nd, 2014 at 7:58 am
I love the particular helpful info a person give with your articles. Let me save the blog site and check yet again in this article regularly. My business is modestly particular I most certainly will study a good amount of new goods here! All the best . for the!