Lots of cool stuff going on in the skies this week. There’s a new red spot on Jupiter indicating the previously white storm clouds have begun to spun higher in the Jupiter atmosphere to heights near to that of the great red spot. The great red spot has been the defining feature of Jupiter since I was a kid, the fact that it’s now been joined by another huge red spot is a reminder that our solar system is not static. In other news, the Phoenix lander is scheduled to make it’s attempted landing at the north pole of Mars tommorow at 7:53pm. Since about half of the missions sent to Mars have failed, there are a lot of scientists holding their breath right about now. It’s certainly exciting, and landing in this northern region of Mars where there is a lot of ice may help to finally answer the big question - did Mars ever harbor life? Might it yet?
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I lose enough money in the company lottery pool on odds much worse than this, so I’m betting asteroid 2007 WD5 will slam into Mars on jan 30th even though NASA is only laying odds at something under 4% right now that it will. The Near Earth Object Program has the details. Even if it doesn’t hit, it’s worth keeping an eye on the red planet if weather allows…

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According to GW (in 2004), NASA’s new strategy is to make it back to the moon by 2020. We’re supposed to build a moon base, and then… on to Mars. For those of us who grew up on Star Trek, we were really excited at the prospect of a return to space, but frankly we were expecting warp drive by now. But what to do when we get there? NASA has worked up a nice to-do list numbering 181 possibilties. At the top of their list (and mine) is a potential radio telescope built into a crater on the far side shielded from Earth’s radio noise. I’ve taken a look through half of their huge PDF file and picked out some other favorites:

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Back in 2004 I wrote about the evidence scientists were finding for water on ancient Mars, and the arguments for and against it on the surface of Mars today. Now we’ve got some great pics that could settle the question? While the pics certainly show a flow of some kind that has happened since 2001, not all scientists are convinced that they are evidence of flowing water. Read More for these less sensational viewpoints.
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Its funny how easily the media can be hyped to a frenzy about the certainty of some scientific finding, yet when I actually read the press release on the NASA site, it isn’t all that definitive.Evidence of Jarosite by the onboard spectrometer is pretty good evidence since it normally forms (on Earth) by the reaction of sulfuric acid in ground water.

The rest of the release concentrates on the rock’s “appearance” which is surely much more subjective an issue. Regarding the observed spherules distribution, the release states “Opportunity’s observations that the spherules are not concentrated at particular layers in the outcrop weigh against a volcanic or impact origin, but do not completely rule out those origins.”

Regarding the crossbedding thought to be made by water action, the release states that the crossbedding might have been due to the action of wind, and that “The images obtained to date are not adequate for a definitive answer”

Don’t forget that Mars Global Surveyor found “large expanses” of Olivine which appears to be plentiful on Mars. Olivine wears away in the presence of water!

Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait till we find evidence of life on Mars (its my new blog tag line after all!), but enough with the hype already.