I mean this is a good question. Does this affect the markets? Would there be mass hysteria? Say Beagle, or Spirit, or Opportunity digs in and sends back pictures of fossils buried beneath a sandy layer of rock? Before you laugh, this might happen in less than 7 months. If just ONE of those robots manages to land on Mars, we could get pictures of a fossil. The robots are certainly being sent to the bottom of a past body of water, and the rocks there will have fossils if there was life. NASA is supposedly really playing this down because, well, that's what NASA does. Ideas?
the mars rover was great. i really hope NASA's new missions are successful. i hope they find something good, too.
seriously, that pathfinder thing couldn't have found a hooker in paris if it wanted to. these babies are not your grandfather's pathfinder.
long: GLBL; OII; TORC; CDIS. After robots these folks would be the first workers to go due to prior weightless environment working atmosphere, and breathing mediums.
http://www.space.com/searchforlife/mars_notouch_000328.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/198330.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1764716.stm http://www.geospace-online.com/gol-en/act/dos/act-dos-life2-en.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1054621.stm tell me that doesn't look like a lake with a river flowing into it? this is where Spirit is landing, January 24th, 2004.