Mars Methane Movies

By Nancy Atkinson - January 19, 2009 at 5:35 PM UTC | Planetary Science
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At NASA's press conference last week about methane on Mars, NASA's lead scientist for the Mars Program Michael Meyers said straight out, "These findings are not evidence for life, but evidence for active processes on Mars." But seemingly, not everyone in the media took the high road in reporting about the methane news, with some claiming NASA had found life on Mars.

If you missed the news conference, or didn't read the

Universe Today article on the methane news

, or would like further information straight from the scientists who have been working on the methane detection on Mars for several years, NASA has put together some videos, where you can get the news straight from the scientists. The first one is with Dr. Michael Mumma of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Take a look:

And there's more:

If you click on the little video screens on the bottom after the first video is over, you can watch a series of videos from the press conference where the methane plumes news was discussed. Sometimes its best to hear it from the scientists first-hand.

If you want to read some of the more "titillating" versions of the methane news, Phil Plait has written an article about the

Mars Methane Media Mess

created by some over-zealous journalists (that includes a nice compliment on our article -- thanks Phil!) and Dave Mosher at Discovery Space has a post about the Mars Methane Bomb on Earth.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com