The afternoon has flowed fast between some quite technical sessions about SHARAD calibration and Mars radars comparisons. SETI institute presented an interesting speech about the possibility of subsurface ecosystems on Mars driven by an exotic biochemical cycle where primary producers exists thanks oxydants coming from weathering of ultramaphic rocks.
The day has finished with an unexpected discussion between Langevin, Mars Express OMEGA instrument co-investigator, and Clifford, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Texas.
The discussion raised because Langevin said that OMEGA instrument data show that hasn’t been any ocean in the northern hemisphere of Mars. The rocks are not compatible. So Clifford asked how have been formed the large number of channels compatible only with large flows of water for a long time. A solution, said another scientist, could be that northern hemisphere could have been formed later than the outflow channels. Something like in Gusev Crater, the landing site of Spirit. A great final, quite explosive, in pure scientific dialectic!
