Key points
Today scientists announced they have found water clouds on Jupiter and those scientists believe there is a possibility of life there or on their 79 moons
America is heading to space in the near future and recent discoveries on the moon will help us get to Mars much faster
I believe there is a lot unexplained on the Mars, Valles Marineris areas
These are very exciting times for space exploration
Jupiter's Great Red Spot has been continuously observed since 1830.
NASA
I want to start off this article and state I am not only a fan of science fiction but also science. Following this brief introduction, it has been a busy week for news regarding our solar system. In an article in the NY Post scientists have postulated that life may now possibly exist on Jupiter. The rationale for this theory is the Giant Red Storm on Jupiter holds water which is one of the building blocks of life. https://nypost.com/2018/08/31/scientists-cant-rule-out-alien-life-on-jupiter-after-shocking-discovery/
This artist's conception of a planetary lineup shows habitable-zone planets with similarities to Earth: (from left) Kepler-22b, Kepler-69c, the just-announced Kepler-452b, Kepler-62f and Kepler-186f. Last in line is Earth itself.
NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech
The line of thinking that water on planets could be a sign of life seems to follow suit with an article posted earlier last week in the Sun by Sean Keach, The Universe Has Way More Water Worlds Than We Thought. In this article "Scientists say that “water worlds,” or exoplanets that contain lots of water, are actually very common. A team of experts has been digging into data obtained by the Kepler space telescope, as recently revealed at the Goldschmidt conference in Boston. Kepler has discovered more than 4,000 exoplanets so far, some of which could support alien life."
https://nypost.com/2018/08/20/the-universe-has-way-more-water-worlds-than-we-thought/
Water supporting life on alien planets could potentially be very exciting news as Vice President Mike Pence gave a speech at NASA's Johnson Space Center regarding America's vision of space exploration in the upcoming decades. "We will return to the Moon, put Americans on Mars and once again explore the farthest depths of outer space,” Pence said. http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/08/23/pence-sets-sights-on-moon-mars-in-nasa-speech.html
The reason the moon is an strategic importance in upcoming space missions is due to the fact that water has been found on the moon at the north and south poles in lunar craters. Water could be a very important resource to any future space missions that are undertaken to go to Mars or further into our a Solar System. Space stations, mining and extraction facilities as well refueling could occur there, in my opinion. https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/direct-evidence-of-water-ice-at-the-moons-poles/
Blue dots on this map show where water ice exists on the floors of permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's south pole. The yellow circle denotes latitude 85° south. The dots represent positive detections from multiple instruments: an infrared spectrometer on Chandrayaan 1 together with a laser altimeter, far-ultraviolet mapper, and infrared radiometer on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. (Skyandtelescope.com, Kelly Beatty, August 24, 2018)
Shaui Li et al. / PNA
(Picture Courtesy of Flicker.com)
Quite frankly it is travel to Mars which interests me the most. It is my opinion that something catastrophic occurred there in the very distant past. My evidence for this Valles Marineris, a huge crater that stretches a quarter of the surface on Mars. In his 2015 book, "Death on Mars, The Discovery of a Planetary Nuclear Massacre". US Physicist Dr. John Brandenburg argues that multiple nuclear explosions decimated the planet causing the sand to turn red and vitrify (glass like) in certain areas. https://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/937692/Mars-alien-civilisation-mushroom-cloud-nuclear-war-theory. The reason I support this line of thinking is simply this, of all the planets in the known universe we have studied, how many of those planets exhibit the same features as the Valles Marineris "scar". If we see similar features "scars" on others planets perhaps this line of thinking can be dismissed. However if something unique has happened on Mars in the distant past we should not be so quick to dismiss any possible theories out of turn.
Final Thoughts
"This composite image made available by NASA shows the Kuiper Belt object nicknamed Ultima Thule indicated by the crosshairs at center, with stars surrounding it on Aug. 16, 2018, made by the New Horizons spacecraft." (Associated Press)
Anyway we look at space exploration, these are very exciting times for discovery. This week NASA announced that New Horizons which visited Pluto in 2015 had taken pictures Ultima Thule, a world of ice. " New Horizons is aiming for a flyby on New Year’s Day. It will be humanity’s most distant exploration of a celestial body, 4 billion miles from Earth and 1 billion miles beyond Pluto."(NY Post, Associated Press, August 29, 2018) https://nypost.com/2018/08/29/nasa-spacecraft-spots-next-destination-beyond-pluto/
One has to ask could mining the ice on Ultima Thule one day be mankind's resource station on our journey through the stars?
Author's note: This article is all my opinion and should not be relied upon for any scientific fact or expertise. It is all my opinion. The opinion of someone who enjoys learning, science and good science fiction. You can follow me on Twitter @TheMoonknight77 where I mainly follow NWBO, send prayers for cancer patients and post Steemit articles on topics which I enjoy. Yes I am NWBO Long and a share holder.