Water could prove life on mars

Well, we finally made it back to Mars, again. The Mars Odyssey spacecraft slipped into orbit and is returning data to ground controllers. We can see signs of past water flow on the Martian surface, but now Mars is a cold, dry, barren planet. Scientists want to know where the water went.

Many think it simply evaporated into space because the Martian gravity is too weak to hold on to much of an atmosphere.

Some think it was frozen underground in a perpetual permafrost. The Odyssey spacecraft will look for gamma rays that are given off by hydrogen when it gets hit by cosmic rays. Water is the most common molecule to contain hydrogen so if we see a lot of hydrogen we assume it comes from water.

We had always thought Mars had life because its surface undergoes changes that are correlated with the Martian year. We now know those changes were caused by 400 mile per hour winds blowing dust around.

Still there may be hope in life or its fossilized past buried just beneath the surface. Water would be a good sign.

The best place to find life in the solar system is probably on the moon Europa of the planet Jupiter. We think there is direct evidence that this is an ocean moon with a thin layer of ice covering the surface. We will go there next in our search for life so even if Mars does not produce life forms we can consider it a dress rehearsal for when we visit Europa.

A few hours before sunrise on the 18th may provide a spectacular meteor show for North America. Astronomers believe they have mapped out the orbits of old comets and found where most of the dust is, which gives us the meteor showers on a regular basis. There is reason to believe that this year Earth will pass through a dense part of an old trail and produce a meteor storm. We could expect a few meteors per second around 4 a.m. on the 18th.

My astronomy class persuaded me to have an all-night meteor party at my house this year. I can not wait to see 120 students camped out in my front yard. This could be a once in a life time experience so it is worth the effort. I even rented a Porta {Potty..

Our local astronaut, Dr. Linda Godwin, takes her third shuttle mission this time to the new international space station. A group of us plan to go down and watch the night launch. NASA maintains Web pages that tell you how to observe the shuttle and space station as they pass over. It is a great sight to see the shuttle catching up with the space station.

Saturn, with the help of the end of Daylight Savings Time, has sprung up out of the east and blazes brightly. By 9 or 10 p.m. Saturn should be high enough to see detail. The rings are still tipped near maximum angle for good viewing. Jupiter and the mighty constellation Orion follow and will be better placed next month.

We are also treated to two full moons in the month of November. The second full moon has been called the "Blue" moon by some. If the weather stays clear, November could be a good month.

Dr. Michael Cobb is a physics professor at Southeast Missouri State University.