National Aeronautics and Space Administration

“ When we analyzed rocks at Pathfinder and Gusev, the rocks didn't contain salts. At Meridiani that was different. At Meridiani, chlorine in green is small, sulfur is in yellow. Sulfur jumped up at McKittrick before we RATted. In third bar, the sulfur jumped up (after RAT) and at Guadalupe, we have the record on Mars, almost 5 times the amount. We interpret this sulfur to be sulfate so we expect magnesium sulfate, epsom salts, on Mars with less water it's called kesorite. Kesorite plus the chlorides add up to a salt concentration that may be 40% of the outcrop. ”

“ In terms of energy, thermal and mobility we don't see any reason why we can't keep going.
Q. Are you able to analyze rocks at opportunity to see if the rocks are basaltic?
Steve: By looking at the elemental and mineral composition we can say with a high-degree of probability at Gusev that the rocks are basalt and with certainty at Meridiani that it's not a pure basaltic rock.
Ben: one of the things we haven't done at Opportunity is measure a dark rock and there are some at the surface.
Q. If the water on Mars is briny, could it continue to exist? ”

“ Spectrometer science. You won't see pictures, instead see graphs, the two German instruments and mini-TES. Before we landed we had picked this area because TES on MGS had said it had interesting mineral content. First chart shows the APXS samples. Red is the original soil right off the lander. In the blue dots you see sulfur is much higher in the outcrop. Chlorine about the same. Bromine showing up on the right side. We had known that sulfur was high on Mars from Viking. ”

“ Phoenix mission targeted for ice-bearing soils will explore ice using its tools.
Ben: an impact crater could create conditions that would be warmer for thousands of years.
Q. Personal feelings about this important findings?
Steve: It's been interesting to watch all of the reactions. We all went in with our own prejudices, hopes, and desires. As we've accumulated the evidence the puzzle was coming together. It's been interesting to watch as we all came to the conclusion that water was involved. Some people made the leap right away, others took longer. It feels good. ”

“ As soon as we crawl out we'll find new and interesting things and want to take a good look around for a few sols then head across the countryside towards the crater. I think we'll make good time. Spirit is far out ahead but I think that's gonna change. ”

“ James: over the last two years we have worked with our science community to craft a series of missions over the next decade. We've crafted those based on forecasting science. We have resilience in the science elements to follow up on these results from orbit and landers. blah, blah, Mars Lab, Astrobiology Lab, Sample return... ”

“ At Gusev, we landed 250 meters from a crater. These two sites are of different ages so if we find evidence of water at Gusev that would be interesting.
Q. If you found rocks like this on earth what are the changes you'll find life there.
John: I think the answer is simple, on earth, finding fossils in ancient rocks is very rare. Preservation is the problem. You target strategies to go looking for rocks where things would be preserved. ”

“ Both for scientific and in prep for human landings. Clear that we need in situ astrobiology missions. Third priority is to land some things that will prepare for human landings, test for toxicity, etc. ”