
Mars water surprise in Curiosity rover soil samples - doublerebel
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24287207
======
startupfounder
"If you think about a cubic foot of this dirt and you just heat it a little
bit - a few hundred degrees - you'll actually get off about two pints of water
- like two water bottles you'd take to the gym," Dr Leshin explained.

This is huge for Mars exploration by humans.

1\. We can send unmanned expeditions to stockpile large tanks of water.

2\. This would allow us to literally 3D print structures on the surface and
allow us to significantly decrease the amount of materials we need to
transport to the surface in order to build a habitat.

Edit: 3\. And ALICE rocket fuel could be created using this water and the
aluminum found in the Martian soil.

~~~
warfangle
They also suggest that one of the main components is perchlorate -- which, if
turned into lithium perchlorate can be used for oxygen generation, and if
turned into ammonium perchlorate can be used for solid rocket fuel.

~~~
jonnathanson
The perchlorate hypothesis seems to be getting a lot of confirming evidence:

[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130926143246.ht...](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130926143246.htm)

While the science dailies are pitching the perchlorate finding as a "setback"
(because it complicates the search for organic molecules), it's indeed
promising for fuel usage.

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bfe
The primary reference behind this is the new Special Issue of the journal
Science with several research papers on Curiosity data:

Curiosity at Gale Crater
[http://www.sciencemag.org/site/extra/curiosity/index.xhtml](http://www.sciencemag.org/site/extra/curiosity/index.xhtml)

INTRODUCTION: Analysis of Surface Materials by the Curiosity Mars Rover
[http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6153/1475](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6153/1475)

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abduhl
For a comparison, typical values for water content on Earth are in the 15 to
50% range for the inhabited world.

This is kind of an awkward way to present this data. They are talking about
water content (which is by weight) and then translating to volumes which is
not straight-forward in all cases.

I don't know how revolutionary this is. A cubic foot of soil is, in my
experience, quite a bit larger than most laymen think and heating something a
"couple hundred degrees" on a world with no established infrastructure (e.g. -
there are no large scale solar panels or nuclear reactors set up on Mars)
seems like quite a problem.

~~~
ricardobeat
> A cubic foot of soil is, in my experience, quite a bit larger than most
> laymen think

Larger than a cubic foot?

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tocomment
I have questions about this. Can anyone help?

How do they know the water is everywhere? How do they know it's not just in
the one place they dug and nowhere else?

Why hasn't the water evaporated? Isn't Mars almost a vacuum?

Why didn't the water evaporate from the soil after being dug up but before
being put in the oven?

Could there be large underground frozen aquifers?

~~~
Coincoin
There is no water per say. It's just that the soil chemical composition is so
that if you heat it a "few hundred degrees" a chemical reaction will produce
water.

~~~
tocomment
Are you sure? If that's true I totally misread the article. I'll go back band
check

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5avage
Where do you get the energy to heat the soil?

~~~
dombili
It's nuclear. You can read about it here:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Specification...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_\(rover\)#Specifications)

SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) then uses this energy to heat the soil and
analyze it. I recommend everyone to read about the SAM, it's a fascinating
instrument. Arguably the most complicated instrument we've (humans) ever
built.

(If you're curious about the SAM, read this article:
[http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-
lakdawalla/2012/curiosi...](http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-
lakdawalla/2012/curiosity-instrument-sam.html))

~~~
morsch
[https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/spacecraft/...](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/spacecraft/2012/20121130_sam_from-
side_PIA16100_fig1.jpg)

Nuts.

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methodin
The irony - water everywhere yet the inhalation (or ingestion?) of space dust
proves detrimental to the thyroid system. Wonder what else is in that crazy
dust?

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gexla
> . This striking block was dubbed Jake Matijevic, in honour of a recently
> deceased Nasa engineer.

They are naming rocks. They haven't even stepped foot on Mars yet and they are
already going space mad.

And what's so special about getting a rock named after you? I'm sure there are
enough rocks out there that everyone can have their own rock. Why not name a
canyon or mountain after him?

~~~
sanxiyn
There is a bureaucracy involved. To name a feature, you need approval from
International Astronomical Union Working Gruop for Planetary System
Nomenclature. No, I am not kidding.

[http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/](http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/)

~~~
menubar
Ah yes, the IAUWGFPSN. You don't mess with those guys. I think they have Gary
Coleman on staff. He's a real hard case. Ironically, he killed a man for using
the word "ironic" incorrectly.

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ChikkaChiChi
Every time I read Curiosity stories, David Bowie starts playing in my head.

~~~
generj
♫ Bowie's in Spaaace ♫

