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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Ancient Mars Fossils

This image of a Earthlike "Crinoid" has been out since the Rover first imaged the Mars surface. I have followed the this an other anomolies from the start, but surprisenly, NASA has never acknowledged this or any other evidence one iota..

It clearly shows a segmented body of somesort. NASA even gave the order to grind this down with the "Rock Abrasion Tool" – RAT, destroying the evidence.

A respected Engineer from NASA says:

"It's hard to image why such bullet-proof evidence was denied for such a long time, and why those so vigorously denying it never did so by meeting the science, but merely by brushing it away. Of course, now that it must be acknowledged by all that there is liquid water on the surface of Mars, this starts those denying the validity of the Mars LR data down the slippery slope leading to life."

-- Dr. Gil Levin, Chief Project Scientist on the Viking Labeled Release Experiment

The Raw Images direct from NASA are here: marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/opportunity_m034.html

There are certain things that should be questioned.

[starbux]

History will not look kindly on the decisions of NASA's Mars probe programs' administrators, and not just for this particular incident.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

NASA has a great deal to explain. It's supposed to be a civilian program, but unlike days of past, direct civilian observation and participation is prohibited.

And...I had thought that the ESA was operating independently from NASA, but this is not the case. There is a NASA scientist that funnels the data from the ESA to the rest of us. Too bad.

I also understand that the color hues of the Martian surface have been changed to make it less Earth like, to the point of altering the colors of the American flag sticker and color calibrator on the lander. When the colors are re-adjusted, the Martian panoramas look incredibly like any desert on Earth. Why the deception? I'll post the images later.

Again I say, not all his doing, but O'Keefe has got to go. NASA is currently inept. Put someone in with a backbone and grit.

[starbux]

Given that our socialized (uh oh soapbox alert) system of space exploration is not delivering the goods that the consumer (in this case, taxpayer) is demanding, I would like to see a private foundation (or consortium of foundations) fund a truely open space project. National Geographic Society and others would be prime candidates. Some (even alot) of the money could be solicited thru donations in whatever amounts they wish.

A space program run in this manner simply could not afford to pull the sort of crap we've been getting from NASA. The (entirely voluntary) donors would withold their funds, if they thought that the organization in question wasn't fully on the up and up.

A government-run agency such as NASA, getting most of its funding from tax money doesn't think of the bottom-line in quite the same way. Their primary clients are congress and the military (rather than the average but curious citizen), not what one would call paragons of efficiency and openness. NASA is under no obligation to deliver the best possible product to us, just enough to keep Congress funding it every year.

The private sector in one form or another (no tax funding) is really the only long-term hope for humankind getting off this planet-- and I'm talking space colonies, the whole nine light-years. NASA will NOT be the one to bring us this future. Obstacles such as the UN Outer Space Treaty need to be abolished so that companies can look for PROFIT in outer-space, so that such entrepreneurial endevours can actually pay for themselves. The profits could go into the next step and beyond. Think about it.

True that at the beginning human flights will be more costly than the average person could afford, but the cost would surely go down eventually (as it has with other forms of transportation) so that practically anyone could go into space. In any case as things stand now, under socialized space exploration only military and specialists get to go up there. In fact they frown upon space tourism.

If Congress voted to totally pull the plug on NASA tomorrow, this would probably be a good thing. The short-term impact would be pretty hard to take (maybe even for me), but in the long-term we might be better off. Truely if we Americans care about space exploration as much as we pretend to, we would find another, better way. I'm sure of it.

[stargazer]

To Both Joe and Starbux,

Yes NASA is suposed to be a civilian run agency but if you look at its history the Government has always had a say in what it did and how much money it spends and recieves. Right now they are trying to cut the budget again by some 1.5 Billion Dollars. We would be better off going to all private funding so that thos way we can say what goes on. Yes O'Keefe has to go. I dont think he is thinking about the people and what we want.

When an Astronut signs up to go into Space they know they are taking their life into to own hands. They take this trip willingly. If I had the chance to do it I would. I know someone who is going to go to the ISS sometime here but now we dont know when but when I asked him about going he said he was thrilled and happy. Yes he knows the risks and is willing to take them.

Thats just my rants this morning and my opinions.

Becky