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[10ebbor10]

Sadly, I just remembered why this can never happen. There's no sattelite communication capacity to control SPIRIT. NASA actually realocated the bandwith meant for the Spirit to Curiosity.

[alway]

The orbiter managed to get a good pic as it descended.

[RedKing]

It's impressive in itself that they got a parachute to work when the Martian atmosphere is several times thinner than the air at the top of Mt. Everest.

One of the beauties of Gale Crater is that it's got what appears to be an alluvial fan (great chance to look for signs of water) and a sandstone remnant that looks to have been eroded over 2 billion years. So Mount Sharp is basically the biggest damn core sample ever seen.

One tantalizing possibility: Martian fossils. They're hoping to find maybe fossilized bacteria or something along that line, but can you imagine the reaction if they found fossils of complex, multicellular life??

[Sirus]

Fossils of complex life would be insanely awesome, but I'm not holding my breath to be honest. From what I remember, Mars didn't last long enough for life as we know it to begin forming. It took - what? - 2 billion years for the simplest multicellular forms to grow here? 3 billion? Assuming I'm remembering my astronomy lessons correctly, Mars didn't have liquid water for that long.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

It probably doesn't have to take 3 billion years for life to form, that's just how long it took on Earth. That's why we're investigating it.

[RedKing]

Shush, you. I want Martian trilobites.

Because for one thing, finding proof of extraterrestrial life would be like sticking NASA into a Tim Schafer Kickstarter project. The money would fucking POUR in.

It would also quite possibly make several prominent fundamentalists' heads asplode. Which is always a good thing.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

It would also quite possibly make several prominent fundamentalists' heads asplode. Which is always a good thing.

On the other hand, they might try to start a campaign against NASA for "defying the Will Of God", which would be a not good thing.

[Sirus]

Hey, I'm with you guys 100%. Life on Mars? HELL YEAH! But the odds are kinda long, and even if it was (or IS) there, that's a lot of ground to cover with a car-sized robot. Just trying to be realistic.

@ MSH: Newest Westboro Baptist website: God hates NASA?

[10ebbor10]

It would also quite possibly make several prominent fundamentalists' heads asplode. Which is always a good thing.

On the other hand, they might try to start a campaign against NASA for "defying the Will Of God", which would be a not good thing.

As far as I have seen Fundamentalists campaining against things mostly results in accomplishing the opposite of what they want. (Or maybe they gather funds to send a spacecraft to the Right/left lower corner of the galaxy, to look for his signature.)

Nasa finding any kind of life would be fantastic. (Though, admittedly, there might be a larger chance* for live to have existed on Venus. After all, as the Sun grows older, it grows hotter, so might once had habitable temperatures, wherether Mars would only have been colder.** )

*Though actually not, because we know Mars had water, and don't know anything about Venus
** Not accounting for the fact that Mars used to have a decent athmosphere.

[darkrider2]

I apologize in advance but...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Curiosity Oreos, sadly not going to be actually manufactured.

[MonkeyHead]

Whatever it finds will be groundbreaking, as nothing of this level of complexity (in terms of roving science lab payload) has ever been done before. We will learn a lot, and it will be going on for a long time.

[penguinofhonor]

is it bad that this whole curiosity/life on mars thing is just making me think of David Bowie a lot?

[Loud Whispers]

Whatever it finds will be groundbreaking

The laser helps

[MaximumZero]

It's going to find lasers on Mars?