From: bweimann@exit109.com
Subject: another Mars rock, EETA 79001
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 1996 13:19:20 -0500 (EST)
Hello all, I just found this announcement on the %net on the Times Daily website. It is a news announcement from Nov 1, regarding the possibility of past/present life on Mars. Perhaps you all have seen it. I had not and thought it was interesting. I cut and pasted it from the website. I apologize if you have to scroll in order to see it all. I don't know how to fix that by reformatting it. This is the first time I tried to cut and past from a web site. I'm happy it worked at all.<G> Barb More Life On Mars? LONDON: The microscopic green men are back. Yesterday, British scientists announced that they found traces of organic matter--material that could be traces of living organisms--on another Martian meteorite. Astronomer Colin Pillinger and his colleagues at Britain's The Open University said that the meteor they had examined was millions of years younger that the one studied by the NASA group in August. That meteor, named ALH 84001, was determined to date back 3.6 billion years, while the British find, EETA 79001, was formed just 180 million years ago. The age discrepancy suggests that if indeed life existed on the Red Planet, it continued for a long stretch of time--and may even persist today. Pillinger has actually been working with EETA 79001 for some time, but re-ran tests on it when the NASA announcement was made. Testing both meteorites, he found the key evidence on both: significant amounts of a carbon isotope called carbonate, which appears to have been formed, on Mars, from methane. Methane gas is a common waste product of microorganic life. Said Pillinger: "Whenever you come across organic matter, it is usually evidence of life." But doubt remains whether the matter was picked up on Mars, or during the stone's flight to Earth. Two unmanned missions to the planet are planned in the next two months; their itineraries are being hurriedly modified. Perhaps to accomodate a guest on the retun voyage. -- Frank Pellegrini