Mars Rover Solves Metallic Object Mystery, Unearths Another 179
SchrodingerZ writes "Last week the Mars Curiosity Rover spotted a shiny metallic-looking object in the martian soil. This week scientists have confirmed that it is plastic that has fallen off the 1-ton rover. However, the discovery of this trans-planetary littering has opened up another mystery for the science team. On October 12th the rover took a sample of soil from the ground, feeding it into its Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instruments for analysis, and a picture of the hole dug by the rover's claw revealed metallic particles in the dirt. The sample was subsequently dropped due to fears that particles from the rover had made it into the dirt. Further study now suggests that the metallic particles are actually native to Mars, as the photo reveals that they are embedded in the soil in clumps. In 2007 the older rover Spirit found evidence of silica for the first time, more testing will occur over the next few days to determine truly if this is again just Curiosity's littler, or something more profound."
Re:You know what it is (Score:5, Informative)
Avatar didn't invent "Unobtainium". The precise origin is unknown, but it goes back at least to the 1950's and has been traditionally used as a stand in for any material that has all the desired properties for an application (strength, weight, heat resistance, etc.) but that doesn't actually exist. So it's not called "Unobtainium" because it's virtually unobtainable, but because it just plain doesn't exist. Movies seem to have picked it up as a MacGuffin. It was used for the magical material the drill was made of in _The Core_ for example.
Re:Crossing my fingers (Score:5, Informative)
The advantage isn't taking metals back. It's using them on Mars. If there really is even just metallic iron, that'd be a HUGE benefit for colonization. Trivial to mine (scoop dust, blow over rotating magnetic collector), trivial to process (I once sketched out the resource chains to run a blast furnace on Mars and it's just staggering - if this is metallic iron and it's pure enough to be structurally sound if simply melted and cast, it'd be huge deal).
If it applies to metals other than iron, all the more the benefit. Anything you can do to reduce the massive resource chains needed by modern tech could be a godsend for actual colonization.
Bad summary. (Score:2, Informative)
Curiosity did not reveal "metallic particles in the dirt." As the linked article states, it found "bright" particles. Bright does not mean metal!
Re:Crossing my fingers (Score:4, Informative)
It's not greed, it's simple math. No animal expends energy unless it can be reasonably sure the reward is more energy.
Re:Crossing my fingers (Score:3, Informative)