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Can someone explain why the discovery of ice and organics on Mars and Mercury such a surprise? If the prevailing opinion in science is that life formed spontane

Can someone explain why the discovery of ice and organics on Mars and Mercury such a surprise? If the prevailing opinion in science is that life formed spontaneously on Earth because the required chemistry was already present, doesn't it follow that similar compounds would be found through out the solar system? I get that each planet has a dramatically different composition in terms of what it primarily consists of, but I would expect traces of things like water and simple organic compounds to be found in various concentrations through out the solar system, no?

stephengillie 14y ago
Agreed. These are simple combinations of the 4 most abundant atoms in the universe. If anything it speaks to a lack of scientific understanding in the amazed, or maybe it's my (and your?) cynical nature.
incision 14y ago
>Can someone explain why the discovery of ice and organics on Mars and Mercury such a surprise? It isn't a surprise, the hypothesis has been around for a long time, this is just new supporting evidence. >If the prevailing opinion in science is that life formed spontaneously on Earth because the required chemistry was already present, doesn't it follow that similar compounds would be found through out the solar system? The big difference with Earth is position and the presence of a protective magnetosphere [1]. 1: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast31jan_1/ http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/as...
- mortenjorck 14y ago
  It's like the Higgs boson. It's a resounding "yes, we were on the right track."
- sliverstorm 14y ago
  Additionally, enough gravity to maintain an atmosphere. Mars isn't in a terrible spot, but it can't hold on to water vapor, oxygen, etc.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    Agri-domes and underground habitats. I think that would be a cool world to live on.
maaku 14y ago
It's not a surprise, although not for the reasons you mention. We've known about similar deposits in permanently shadowed craters on the Moon, and one of Messenger's early discoveries was of craters with similar conditions on Mercury. However the source of the volatiles is not the type of chemistry that happened on early Earth, but rather cometary deposits and exospheric interactions.

stephengillie 14y ago

Agreed. These are simple combinations of the 4 most abundant atoms in the universe. If anything it speaks to a lack of scientific understanding in the amazed, or maybe it's my (and your?) cynical nature.

incision 14y ago

>Can someone explain why the discovery of ice and organics on Mars and Mercury such a surprise? It isn't a surprise, the hypothesis has been around for a long time, this is just new supporting evidence. >If the prevailing opinion in science is that life formed spontaneously on Earth because the required chemistry was already present, doesn't it follow that similar compounds would be found through out the solar system? The big difference with Earth is position and the presence of a protective magnetosphere [1]. 1: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast31jan_1/ http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/as...

mortenjorck 14y ago
It's like the Higgs boson. It's a resounding "yes, we were on the right track."
sliverstorm 14y ago
Additionally, enough gravity to maintain an atmosphere. Mars isn't in a terrible spot, but it can't hold on to water vapor, oxygen, etc.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  Agri-domes and underground habitats. I think that would be a cool world to live on.

maaku 14y ago

It's not a surprise, although not for the reasons you mention. We've known about similar deposits in permanently shadowed craters on the Moon, and one of Messenger's early discoveries was of craters with similar conditions on Mercury. However the source of the volatiles is not the type of chemistry that happened on early Earth, but rather cometary deposits and exospheric interactions.