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NASA Announces News Briefing on Mars Orbiter Science Finding 08.03.11...

 

The Press Release:

WASHINGTON - NASA will host a news briefing on Thursday, Aug. 4, at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) about a significant new Mars science finding. The briefing will be held at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The new finding is based on observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2006. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

The briefing panelists are:

- Philip Christensen, geophysicist, Arizona State University

- Colin Dundas, research geologist, U.S. Geological Survey

- Alfred McEwen, planetary geologist, University of Arizona

- Michael Meyer, Mars Exploration Program lead scientist, NASA

- Lisa Pratt, biogeochemist, Indiana University

The news briefing will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv  The event will also be carried live, with a live chat box available, at http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2

My Commentary:

This announcement is being made at NASA instead of the Whitehouse.  Good.

President Obama will not be making the announcement.  Good (or bad, if you're a SETI fan).

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is not making the announcement.  Very good.

There is no flurry of urgent activity at Cape Canaveral, Air Force bases, Navy submarine yards, or nuclear missile silos.  Really good!

There are going to be a bunch of government scientists there.  That's not necessarily bad, unless one of them is that misguided scientist who is intent on ruining things for the human race.

In a little over an hour we'll know...

An Update:

Streams of muddy salt water.  Not streams of muddy salt water inundating an abandoned space port.  Not tharks body-surfing on streams of muddy salt water.  Just streams of muddy salt water, flowing down a hill.  Then they dried up.