Per the JPL website, there will be a presser on Monday morning, at 8:30 am PDT, which features several NASA science directorate types, but includes from current active JPL mission scientists only MRO/HiRISE PI Alfred McEwen. So I'm assuming the "major discovery" announcement was developed from MRO data.

The details are embargoed until 30 minutes prior to the presser, but the headline on the article is Mars Mystery Solved.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they have discovered.

-the other Doug

Hmm, what are some Mars mysteries that MRO could address?

The crash site and fate of Deep Space 2.
The location of the Soviet lander Mars 3.
Something about gully formation.
Something about transient methane sources.

The last two would certainly involve non-MRO scientists.

Truthfully, the list is almost infinite, but the absence of more cross-listed scientists plus the recent discovery of Beagle 2 makes me suspect that they may have found DS 2.

One more scientist is cross-listed: Lujendra Ojha at Georgia Tech. He co-authored a 2011 paper about this:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/mult...a/pia14472.html

So this announcement is probably about surface flows indicating possible subsurface brines (similar to the gully issue), not about finding lost spacecraft.

You beat me by two minutes!

http://www.lujendraojha.net/band-horizon/



Dynamic Process on Contemporary mars

One of my interest is understanding the formation mechanism of Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL). RSL are active features on Mars that might require flowing water. On Mars, they form and grow during warm seasons and disappear during cold seasons. They recur over multiple years in generally the same location. I use remote sensing instruments on board various Mars orbiting space crafts to understand their geological/hydrological nature. Additionally, I use data from CRISM onboard MRO to understand its formation mechanism.

...or the fate of the Mars Polar Lander in 1999 ?
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