Jun 5 1998
From The Space Library
Mark H. Thiemens, professor of chemistry at the University of California at San Diego, and a team of researchers published a study in the journal Science disputing NASA's theory that a rock from Mars contained evidence of life. NASA scientists had studied the rock, found in the Allen Hills ice field in Antarctica, concluding that some carbonate mineral structures in the rock were evidence that microbes had lived in the rock before it "blasted away from Mars," during the collision of Mars with an asteroid millions of years ago. By contrast, Thiemens's researchers concluded that the chemical characteristics of oxygen inside the rock originated from the carbon dioxide and ozone of the Martian atmosphere. The team explained that, if a microbe had deposited the oxygen, "the chemical signature of the minerals would have matched that of oxygen in water, not oxygen in the atmosphere." According to the team, this finding did not provide final proof that the rock had never contained life. However, it provided a significant argument against NASA's theory, controversial since its first proposal in August 1996.
Astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Discovery attempted, but failed, to fix the spacecraft's high-speed data-transmission system. NASA believed the source of the problem was in an electronics box in the cargo bay, but stated that only a spacewalk would enable the crew to reach the box. NASA Mission Operations representative Robert E. Castle Jr. remarked that, even with a spacewalk, the astronauts would probably not be able to repair the malfunction. Because of the lack of the high-speed data transmission system, scientists could not view the data that the AMS had collected. Although the Shuttle had stored the data on board, NASA was unable to determine whether the data was useful, or whether the instrument's adjustment was correct.
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