Bob Park lost on Mars

[Diamond]

It's not a personal vendetta I swear, but Bob should get a new intern* because this one is a moron. Either that or Bob should get a life and some fresh air.

To wit:

MARS: IT'S NEVER BEEN A DAY AT THE BEACH. Mars enthusiasts
have been quick to infer from the scantiest of evidence that Mars
was once warm and wet. Not to worry, they insist, once we're
there we'll be able to tap into all that subterranean water for
drinking and even convert some of it into rocket fuel for the
trip home (WN 7 Jun 02). Uh, before you go off to Mars with no
water for the trip home, maybe you should take a look at the
Science magazine issue that came out today. At an International
Mars Conference at Caltech in July, planetary scientists threw
frozen water on the warm-Mars myth: "Although water has at times
flowed across the Martian surface, it has not lingered as a
liquid long enough to alter the planet much chemically."

Glossary:

"Mars Enthusiasts" - anyone who disagrees with Bob's view is a deluded fanatic (see last week's Global Warming thread for details of Bob's technique). Thus anyone who claims based on lots of indirect evidence that Mars had lots of liquid water is a deluded fanatic.

"We'll be able to tap into...." is a reference to Robert Zubrin's Mars Direct proposal to visit Mars using not much more than Apollo technology. But Bob, Mars Direct would bring hydrogen to the planet to synthesize with the Martian atmosphere. Since Mars Direct was proposed, spacecraft like Mars Odyssey have found abundant water under the surface of Mars, meaning that its should, in principle be possible to manufacture rocket fuel (methane/oxygen) from local materials only. What the above has to do with Mars never having an ocean in the past, is beyond me.

"the warm-Mars myth" - this means that Bob knew IN ADVANCE that Mars never supported an ocean and can scoff at people who tentatively proposed such an idea. Wow Bob, did you write about this momentous opinion before? Did those people who proposed such a speculation believe a myth? Like Carl Sagan? Does this mean their scientific careers are over?

*the intern is Andrew Essin....."This year he will be on a scholarship at Cambridge University" where he will learn basic science and logic**

** We can only hope....

 

[Soapy Sam]

This word, "Intern"- Does this mean a temporary research assistant, probably on vacation from college or high school?
A gopher?

That's my reading from context. I saw it mentioned in Randi's commentary this week. Previously, I had heard it used in a hospital context and by Scott Adams. (Remember "Asok"?

 

[Diamond]

This word, "Intern"- Does this mean a temporary research assistant, probably on vacation from college or high school?
A gopher?

That's my reading from context. I saw it mentioned in Randi's commentary this week. Previously, I had heard it used in a hospital context and by Scott Adams. (Remember "Asok"?

Probably. It doesn't mean that he has much intelligence or ability to change his boss's mind.