PASADENA, Calif. — An analysis of a rock sample collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover shows ancient Mars could have supported living microbes.

Scientists identified sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon — some of the key chemical ingredients for life — in the powder Curiosity drilled out of a sedimentary rock near an ancient stream bed in Gale Crater on the Red Planet last month.

“A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “From what we know now, the answer is yes.”

Clues to this habitable environment come from data returned by the rover’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) and Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instruments. The data indicate the Yellowknife Bay area the rover is exploring was the end of an ancient river system or an intermittently wet lake bed that could have provided chemical energy and other favorable conditions for microbes. The rock is made up of a fine-grained mudstone containing clay minerals, sulfate minerals and other chemicals. This ancient wet environment, unlike some others on Mars, was not harshly oxidizing, acidic or extremely salty.

The patch of bedrock where Curiosity drilled for its first sample lies in an ancient network of stream channels descending from the rim of Gale Crater. The bedrock also is fine-grained mudstone and shows evidence of multiple periods of wet conditions, including nodules and veins.

Curiosity’s drill collected the sample at a site just a few hundred yards away from where the rover earlier found an ancient streambed in September 2012.

“Clay minerals make up at least 20 percent of the composition of this sample,” said David Blake, principal investigator for the CheMin instrument at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

These clay minerals are a product of the reaction of relatively fresh water with igneous minerals, such as olivine, also present in the sediment. The reaction could have taken place within the sedimentary deposit, during transport of the sediment, or in the source region of the sediment. The presence of calcium sulfate along with the clay suggests the soil is neutral or mildly alkaline.

Scientists were surprised to find a mixture of oxidized, less-oxidized, and even non-oxidized chemicals, providing an energy gradient of the sort many microbes on Earth exploit to live. This partial oxidation was first hinted at when the drill cuttings were revealed to be gray rather than red.

“The range of chemical ingredients we have identified in the sample is impressive, and it suggests pairings such as sulfates and sulfides that indicate a possible chemical energy source for micro-organisms,” said Paul Mahaffy, principal investigator of the SAM suite of instruments at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

An additional drilled sample will be used to help confirm these results for several of the trace gases analyzed by the SAM instrument.

“We have characterized a very ancient, but strangely new ‘gray Mars’ where conditions once were favorable for life,” said John Grotzinger, Mars Science Laboratory project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. “Curiosity is on a mission of discovery and exploration, and as a team we feel there are many more exciting discoveries ahead of us in the months and years to come.”

Scientists plan to work with Curiosity in the “Yellowknife Bay” area for many more weeks before beginning a long drive to Gale Crater’s central mound, Mount Sharp. Investigating the stack of layers exposed on Mount Sharp, where clay minerals and sulfate minerals have been identified from orbit, may add information about the duration and diversity of habitable conditions.

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Project has been using Curiosity to investigate whether an area within Mars’ Gale Crater ever has offered an environment favorable for microbial life. Curiosity, carrying 10 science instruments, landed seven months ago to begin its two-year prime mission. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., manages the project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more about the mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ . You can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity

DC Agle 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle@jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

2013-092

March 1st, 2013, 10:00am

Topic – Out of this World: UFO Sightings and Investigations

Cuyahoga Community College – Western Campus

11000 W Pleasant Valley Rd •

Parma, OH

(This program is restricted to individuals enrolled in the Encore Campus Program)

March 8th, 2013, 10:00am

Topic – Out of this World: UFO Sightings and Investigations

Cuyahoga Community College – Eastern Campus4250 Richmond Rd •

Highland Hills, Ohio

(This program is restricted to individuals enrolled in the Encore Campus Program)

March 16th, 2013, 6:00pm

Topic – Out of this World: UFO Sightings and Investigations

Massilon Public Library

208 Lincoln Way East

Massillon, Ohio 44646

April 15th, 2013, 6:00pm , 2013, 6:00pm

Topic – Out of this World: UFO Sightings and Investigations

Wayne Public Library

137 E Main St

Wayne, OH 43466

April 18th, 2013, 6:30pm

Topic – Military Encounters

Willoughby Public Library

30 Public Square

Willoughby, Ohio 44094

April 19th, 2013, 7:00pm

Topic – Out of this World: UFO Sightings and Investigations

Geauga Park District – Observatory Park

10610 Clay Street

Montville, OH 44064

July 31st, 2013, 7:00pm (Preregitration Required)

Topic – Exploration into the Unknown

Westlake Porter Public Library

27333 Center Ridge Road

Westlake, Ohio 44145-3947

October 5-6, 2013 (Exact Day and Time TBA)

Warren Rupp Observatory

Hidden Hollow Camp

5127 O’Possum Run Road

Bellville , Ohio

Fringe Radio Overnight Special – Thomas Wertman.

Finally on Monday, February 25th at 2am EST, the sapient trio of K-Talk 630 Am’s Fringe Radio Pat, Carol, and Mr. Lee continues their weekly overnight UFO/Paranormal show with a Tom Wertman.

THOMAS WERTMAN is a chief field investigator for the Mutual UFO Network of Ohio. MUFON of Ohio formed in 1998 to investigate and educate the public regarding UFOs. Part of Wertman’s responsibility is to look into possible UFO events, both current and historical. When investigations are concluded, they are published in MUFON’s online research library.

Tune in every Monday – Friday from 2am eastern – 4am eastern for pure UFO/Paranormal entertainment.

Link to show:

http://inceptionradionetwork.com/2013/02/fringe-radio-overnight-special-thomas-wertman/

CUP member Dale Harder will be presenting at the March 16th meeting. Dale plan on bringing a small Plantarium projector that show the Real night sky with over 2 million stars projected up to -8th magnitude, including Aurora, Saturn from Titan view, Milky Way, Messier objects and Constellations.

We will touch on information with my involvement in the Ralph Ring Flying Saucers and project Camelot and personal contact experiences, with some info on free energy tied in.

Dale may also be bringing his Laser Pistol and Tesla equipment as well.

April 20th 2013 CUP Meeting Agenda

Sam Luciano will be following Dale with a discussion on new energy technology. More details to be added.

Link to the ICCRA website.

http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/inter2012/USA/hopewell2012a.html

Additional details and photos to be coming soon.

Cleveland Ufology Project Facebook Link

Also check out the plans for the Cleveland Ufology Project’s 60th Anniversary Banquet at the groups Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/events/127759197350517/

By ANDY PASZTOR and JOHN EMSHWILLER

With little public attention, dozens of universities and law-enforcement agencies have been given approval by federal aviation regulators to use unmanned aircraft known as drones, according to documents obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests by an advocacy group.

Dozens of universities and law-enforcement agencies have been given approval by federal aviation regulators to use unmanned aircraft known as drones. Jennifer Valentino-DeVries reports on digits. Photo: AP.

The more than 50 institutions that received approvals to operate remotely piloted aircraft are more varied than many outsiders and privacy experts previously knew. They include not only agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security but also smaller ones such as the police departments in North Little Rock, Ark., and Ogden, Utah, as well the University of North Dakota and Nicholls State University in Louisiana.

The information, released by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, came to light as the Federal Aviation Administration gears up to advance the widespread use of the drones. By the fall of 2015, Congress wants the agency to integrate remotely piloted aircraft throughout U.S. airspace.

In February, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department in Colorado tested a drone with an infrared camera. It measures about 36 inch wide.

Although the documents don’t indicate how the aircraft will be used, the disclosures likely will fuel privacy concerns involving drones.

On Thursday, Democratic Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Republican Rep. Joe Barton of Texas asked the acting administrator of the FAA to answer questions about the privacy implications of increased drone use.

“Many drones are designed to carry surveillance equipment, including video cameras, infrared thermal imagers, radar and wireless network ‘sniffers,’ ” the representatives wrote in their letter to Michael Huerta. Now that the FAA, under pressure from lawmakers and businesses, is pushing to increase the use of drones, it has “the responsibility to ensure that the privacy of individuals is protected and that the public is fully informed about who is using drones in public airspace and why,” they wrote.

The FAA declined to comment.

As part of the push to increase uses of civilian drones, nearly 50 companies are developing some 150 different systems, ranging from miniature models to those with wingspans comparable to airliners.

The FAA previously said it has approved dozens of nonmilitary uses of unmanned aircraft, ranging from law enforcement to firefighting to wildlife monitoring. Drones also have been used for news coverage, mapping and agricultural applications.

Read More

• Electronic Frontier Foundation website

The University of North Dakota uses drones in connection with an undergraduate degree program in unmanned aircraft systems it started in 2009. Al Palmer, a university official involved in the program, said about 78 students have declared majors in the field and that graduates have found jobs with drone manufacturers or operators.

The North Little Rock police department has been working with a small pilotless helicopter since 2008, said Sgt. Pat Thessing. It is currently training with the aircraft over unpopulated areas only, while it awaits FAA rules for use of such aircraft elsewhere. It hopes to use them for surveillance of high-crime neighborhoods, during drug investigations and other work.

The list obtained by the EFF represents all entities that have applied for drone permits, but doesn’t show how many drones each entity has, said Jennifer Lynch, a staff attorney with the group. FAA officials have talked about the existence of about 300 active permits.

Recipients of these special permits must fly in a certain geographic area outlined on their application. Currently, the FAA typically doesn’t allow drones to fly through airspace where commercial, business and private planes travel.

Ryan Calo, who conducts research into privacy and robotics at Stanford Law School, said the domestic use of drones will likely grow as more machines are brought back from war and as prices fall.

“The very same drone that was staking out a nest of insurgents and possibly shooting them could be deployed in New York for surveillance” after removal of weaponry, Mr. Calo said. He said the use of drones could spark a wider debate about privacy because people aren’t accustomed to such technology. “If you bring back a tank from Afghanistan, you don’t expect it to show up in a park,” he said.

—Jennifer Valentino-DeVries and Andrew Morse
contributed to this article.