NASA issued a press release last week announcing a news briefing for 11.30am EDT today (1.30am AEST on Tuesday, 29 September) where they will detail a ‘major science finding’ from the agency’s Mars mission, Journey to Mars. The news briefing will be held at the James Webb Auditorium at NASA’s Headquarters in Washington.
The announcement sent science and space fans into a frenzy of speculation. The leading speculation is that NASA will announce finding water on Mars – but others hope for evidence of life.
The water theory is supported by one of the five announced participants, Lujendra Ojha from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. In 2011, the then 21 years old Ojha co-authored a study published in the journal Science, suggesting the occurrence of liquid salt water during the warmer seasons on Mars.
Although, if water has been found on Mars, finding life may not be too far behind.
NASA’s special announcements are usually quite special, so in any event we are likely to be up for a special treat.
The last time NASA made such an announcement in July, they introduced Earth 2.0, the planet Kepler-186f which was discovered orbiting a star similar to our own sun.
The public response was predictably curious and witty: