Comments on: Actual Mars Rover Press Conference and Release

By: John Ackerman

John Ackerman — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 21:36:03 +0000

I am convinced that Grotzinger’s statement was the result of a finding of a lot of 12C, which can only be the result of photosynthesis – like trees. The only 13C ‘delta’ published has not been calculated using the standard method, but based on assumptions about oxygen isotopes. This is the reason for all the talk about ‘contamination’ of Curiosity. He was silenced by the rest of the team, because they cannot explain the 12C. He gave a hint of a protest when he stated at the formal meeting “science is proceeding at the speed of science”. See cycliccatastrophism.org post titled ‘Has Curiosity Killed a Paradigm’.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:48:51 +0000

It is also, though, not a very good environment to find life or life-ish stuff. (That particular pile of dirt.)

By: scidogs

scidogs — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 06:33:28 +0000

we need to remember that these Rover Teams live in a bubble.
i’m sure every pixel that comes down from Mars is a “wow” for them.

By: Doug Alder

Doug Alder — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 02:35:14 +0000

When i first heard the results my thoughts were – bummer no organic molecules that might indicate the presence of life at one time, then immediately – well that’s good news as if it had shown that then there would be a moral dilemma in further exploration – particularly colonization, unless it could be definitively shown that life had been extinguished.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:35:09 +0000

NASA did nothing wrong. First, “dramatic” does not equal “LIFE” no matter how many people think that. Second, it was not a leak or pre-news. Third, the press releases that came out perfectly reflected the press conference.

I’ve discussed this here: http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/11/30/nasa-press-voyager-press-conference-voyager-will-announce-voyager-captured-by-alien-craft/

Yes, there is a problem, but it is not with the NASA press office!

By: G

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:35:06 +0000

All of this is interesting in & of itself to those of us who follow space/science news. But I have one criticism to raise:

A couple of weeks ago there were hints from various sources, some apparently from NASA, saying that “there would be Earth-shattering news.” To most lay readers that means “LIFE!!!,” and then the real news is a letdown. I was thinking it would turn out to be news of organic molecules that might be relevant to our current theories about the origins of life. Nope!

NASA needs to stop the “dramatic” leaks and “pre-news,” and stick to more cautious language. For example it would have been better to say something along the lines of: “We took samples of Martian sand and obtained good results about its chemical composition. The lab equipment on the rover continues to work well. We are still analyzing our findings and will report in more detail at our next press conference.”

Don’t even say “complex chemistry” until the actual news conference or press release, when the answers can be presented in enough detail that there’s no cause for misinterpretation.