Update: First posted March 22
NASA will announce a "major scientific finding" from its Mars rover mission today at 2 p.m. ET.
The announcement will be made at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. and carried live on NASA TV. An article about the discovery will be posted to the SPACE.com home page, also at 2 p.m. ET.
The last time NASA promised something like this involving Mars, the result was the revelation that the Opportunity rover's landing site had once been soaked with water, providing the first evidence gleaned from the surface for past liquid water on Mars.
A spokesperson for NASA told SPACE.com that the big announcement would again involve a discovery by the Opportunity rover and not its twin, Spirit. The agency did not provide detail regarding the science involved, and the spokesperson would not elaborate.
Rover scientists have said they were eagerly pursuing whether the water that once existed at the rover landing site was groundwater or might have been a lake or ocean. In fact, as of late last week they did not agree on what the most recent evidence revealed.
Experts have said they might learn the answer to that question with further investigation, but that they were not certain the answer would become clear.
One of the scientists that will help present the findings is Dave Rubin, a sedimentologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
The rock outcropping studied in the shallow depression at the landing site was formed long ago as layers of sediment, scientists have said previously. But they've not yet been able to say how long ago, or for how long water was present.
The persistent presence of water is thought to be a prerequisite for life, though the fact that there was water does not mean there was biology. Biologists say life could work its magic either above or below the ground. But clearly the idea of a Martain lake would capture more public fancy.
All signs point to something important in the announcement, as NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe will make opening remarks. He is typically not involved in science announcements and did not participate in the previous blockbuster presentation of Opportunity's water discovery.
Other speakers include Cornell University professor Steve Squyres, the principal investigator for the overall rover mission, and John Grotzinger, co-investigator for rover team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Rounding out the presentation will be Jim Garvin, NASA lead scientist for Mars and the Moon, and Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator in the Office of Space Science.
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