Re: A liquid water component to clouds and fogs on Mars.

[Robert Clark]

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Newsgroups: sci.space.policy, sci.astro, sci.physics, sci.bio.misc,
rec.arts.sf.science
From: Robert Clark <rgregorycl...@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2012 08:12:53 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: A liquid water component to clouds and fogs on Mars.

On Aug 11, 8:46 am, Robert Clark <rgregorycl...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Was watching "This Week at NASA" after the landing. I was interested
> in how the voice over describing the Curiosity landing phrased the
> life on Mars question. It said Curiosity will try to determine if the
> conditions are right for microbial life *to exist* on Mars:
> Curiosity Has Landed! on This Week @NASA.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3smd4INzng
> It was notable to me this was phrased in the present tense, not for
> microbial life *to have existed* on Mars, but *to exist* on Mars.
> Since Viking with the general consensus that the current life on Mars
> question was answered in the negative, usually NASA missions were
> described as only determining if life could have existed in the past
> on Mars, not the present.
> On the "NASA360" episode shown this week, the NASA scientist
> interviewed Dr. Bruce Jakosky of the Curiosity and upcoming MAVEN Mars
> missions described them also as determining if conditions are right
> for life *to exist* on Mars, present tense:
> NASA 360 Season 3, Show 19.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiYVRg7d-PQ

In Friday's teleconference lead Curiosity scientist John Grotzinger
initially gave the max temperature at the landing site as 1 degree
above freezing:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/24773693
However, later in response to a question for clarification on that
temperature at about 22 minutes into the teleconference, he gave the
temperature as 276 degrees Kelvin. This is about 3 degrees C, or 37
degrees F. The temperatures are expected to go higher as we get into
Spring at the landing site.
A low lying water ice haze was visible in Gale crater at the time of
the landing. The Mars Pathfinder mission showed the air temperature
can drop as much as 20C just a few feet above the ground compared to
the ground temperature. However, it is important to note that clouds
and fogs can have some proportion of liquid water even at tens of
degrees below freezing:

A liquid water component to clouds and fogs on Mars.
http://exoscientist.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-liquid-water-component-to-clouds-and.html

Bob Clark
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Weather On Mars Surprisingly Warm, Curiosity Rover Finds.
by SPACE.com Staff
Date: 01 October 2012 Time: 07:00 AM ET
[Quote]
"If this warm trend carries on into summer, we might even be able to
foresee temperatures in the 20s [Celsius], and that would be really
exciting from a habitability point of view," Gómez said. "In the
daytimes, we could see temperatures high enough for liquid water on a
regular basis. But it’s too soon to tell whether that will happen or
whether these warm temperatures are just a blip.”[/quote]
http://www.space.com/17828-mars-weather-curiosity-rover-discovery.html

Now consider this graphic showing temperatures at the Curiosity site:

REMS. Air Temp. Sensor. Daily max. and min. variations.
http://www.americaspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/PIA16913-br2.jpg

from the article:

The Winds Still Blow in Thin but Active Martian Atmosphere.
By Paul Scott Anderson
April 11th, 2013
http://www.americaspace.com/?p=33999&cpage=1

It is notable that daytime ground temperatures are above the air
temperatures. Eyeballing the ground temperature plot, I estimate the
highest ground temperature reached as about 15 C, about 60 F.
Depending on the amount of water vapor in the air near the surface
this could allow small amounts of water to condense to liquid for
short periods.
It would be interesting to find out if the relative humidity would
allow water to condense on the surface in the thin Martian atmosphere.

SwRI study finds liquid water flowing above and below frozen Alaskan
sand dunes, hints of a wetter Mars.
San Antonio TX (SPX) Apr 01, 2013
[Quote]
Recent measurements of air temperature and pressure recorded by the
Mars Science Laboratory on the Curiosity Rover, which landed in Gale
Crater last August, suggest that liquid water potentially would be
stable there during the warmest portion of each day.[/quote]
http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/SwRI_study_finds_liquid_water_flowing_above_and_below_frozen_Alaskan_sand_dunes_hints_of_a_wetter_Mars_999.html


Bob Clark