美國太空總署分享毅力號火星探測器新發現的細節

各位早上好 歡迎來到我們NASA的簡報 我們有一些有趣的消息 關於一項我們的Mars任務 在我們開始之前 我想先歡迎我們的主持人 他們將參與今天的簡報 首先我們有Nikki Fox 她是NASA的科學任務副主任 電話上我們有Katie Stack Morgan 她是Perseverance Project的科學家 她將在電話上介紹 我們也有Professor Joel Hurwitz Perseverance的科學家 和創辦人 今天發布的簡報 非常有趣 他也在電話上 我們也有Lindsey Hayes 她是Mars的科學家 她也在現場 我們也有我們的新副總裁 如果你有任何疑問 你也可以向他發問 阿米特 我很感謝他接受了 我曾經擔任 Artemis的任務 我們稍後會討論 但是 今天發布的簡報 在過去30年 NASA一直在探索Mars 在探索中 我們在尋找生命的証明 我們在尋找水 但30年來的探索 在過去 我們以為我們找到了生命的証明 當我們做了這件事 我們把生命的証明放到網路上 傳送給科學社會 科學社會會回應 聽著 有不同的解釋 你認為的生命 其實是其他東西製造的 這就是NASA的歷史 與它的發現 和科學社會的合作 我們認為我們找到的 我們在談論堅持 這是一項任務 派到Mars 川普總統的第一次總統選舉 一年前 我們找到一份樣本 我們在探索的地方 發現了河流和湖 就像地球一樣 我們認為這是我們在Mars 看到了古代生命的証明 一年前 我們認為我們找到了 我們認為是生命的証明 在Mars的表面 我們把証明傳送給我們的科學朋友 來做壓迫測試 來分析 我們是否找到正確的証明 我們認為這是Mars的古代生命的証明 一年後 他們回答說 我們找不到其他解釋 所以這很可能是我們在Mars 找到的最明顯的生命証明 這非常刺激 我們會為您和NASA的領導科學家 分析這件事 包括有關這件事的 教授賀爾沃茲 寫了今天釋出的文章 所以我們也想聽聽他的意見 但我會感到遺憾 如果我沒有談到 我們在NASA實際上在做什麼 那就是人類飛行探索 許多人聽說了亞特曼斯計劃 在明年第一部分 我們將派出四名飛行員 回到月球 但我們只會走在月球周圍 我們不會在亞特曼斯2 即將到來的明年 但在一年半後 我們將進行亞特曼斯3 我們會回到月球 這次我們會留在 開始時的更長的時間 但我們希望有一個長期的存在 在月球上的生命 由美國主導 而這次任務中重要的是 我們在月球上的任務中學到的 這將幫助我們在月球上 實際上使用美國的靴子 這是一個很刺激的時刻 我們有很好的科學 我們正在推動我們的夥伴 我們正在推動NASA 我們正在進行第二輪的宇宙競爭 中國想要在我們面前 回到月球 這不會發生 美國在過去 已經在宇宙中帶領 我們將繼續在未來 帶領宇宙 這次的發現 我希望 讓大家興奮 我們將在未來的任務中 我們將進行的探索 我們將進行的科學 我們將發展 以確保我們能夠 傳遞給美國人 人類 在宇宙中 但是我們想要投入 我們今天有的興奮消息 我將轉到 Nikki Fox 她是我們的科學任務 非常感謝 謝謝 是的 今天確實是一個興奮的一天 NASA 我們所做的 是我們研究的 似乎是不可能的 這就是我們每天 在NASA科學上做的 NASA科學是無懈可擊的 在尋找生命的 全球權威 超過我們的國土地球 所以今天 我們將和大家談論 這個驚人的 興奮的發現 我還想確保 我們把環境放在中心 你可以看到 它如何融入 我們尋找生命 在宇宙中 我們的宇宙 有100億億光年 在地球的10億光年中 有至少400個 知名的星球 這意味著 有可能 有些人甚至會說 生命超過地球的可能性 包括 也許甚至是 複雜的智慧生命 今天 我們正在給大家展示 我們如何一步接近 回答人類 其中一個最深奧的問題 那就是 我們是否真正 獨自在宇宙中 如果我可以 給大家看第一張圖片 那會很棒 在去年7月 就像Duffy總統 慷慨地描述 NASA的 堅持巡邏巡邏 尋找了一塊 被蝙蝠所發現的岩石 科學家馬上知道 這很有趣 我們在地球上 從未看到過 去年夏天 當我們發現了 我們把圖片放出來 讓所有人看到 讓所有人分享 分享NASA科學的喜悅 今天 我們真的在慶祝 科學團隊的 不得不努力 正如他們嘗試證明 這並不有趣 也許這只是其他東西 也許這不是 我們期待的關鍵結果 所以他們做了分析 在這些蝙蝠的位置 我們認為 他們可能是 從古代生物製造的 我們的 不得不努力巡邏巡邏 發現這塊巡邏巡邏 是我們最近 在地球上 發現的古代生物 如果你不知道 我們非常興奮 但是我又想 把這件事說明 這塊巡邏巡邏 是一種遺失 不是生命本身 它肯定是 從古代生物製造的 那是幾百億年前 已經存在的東西 那裡沒有現有的東西 我們可以說 它肯定是 從古代生物製造的 這意味著 我們看著 我們所知道的 地球上的生命 這就是我們會看到的 是由生物製造的 在這個情況下 這就像是 看到剩下的礦物 剩下的食物 也許那些食物 被微生物排泄 這就是我們會看到的 在這份檢驗中 再一次 就如董事長說的 我們不肯定 這到底是什麼 但我們不會停止 在這份最初的分析之後 這肯定不是 最終的答案 但是我們有了 這份最初的結果 我們與你分享 這個世界 我們要求你 去看 並且給予你 我們的分析 這又是 我們在NASA科學中做的事情 這就是我們 如何找到我們的資訊 這是一段很長的旅程 我們問一個問題 我們設計一個任務 可以去 回答這個問題 我們發展技術 我們建造硬體 我們將它發射到宇宙 它取得資料 它帶回我們需要的資訊 我們分析它 我們找到答案 回答這些 非常困難的問題 我們實際上在研究 馬爾斯 甚至在60年前 我們發射了 第一次的任務 去拍照 馬爾斯 告訴我們 這真是一個 非常有趣的地方 我們真的想 發射人類到那裡 所以我們在做這件事 讓我們能夠 理解這個宇宙 所以我們準備 發射人類到那裡 我們肯定 當我們向前看 我們計劃發射更多的任務 到馬爾斯 支持亞特曼斯計劃 我們非常自豪 它會打開人類的門 去研究 更瞭解紅色地球 也許有一天 會把馬爾斯的樣本帶回家 讓我們在地球上 我想強調一點 NASA的科學發現 並非隨機的 它們是獲得獎勵的結果 來自繁複的 長期的策略計劃 我們發射這些任務 來真正回答 這些不可思議的問題 每一個新發現 能夠幫助我們 推動研究的下一步 我們想要設計的任務 讓我們能夠 帶著全面的工具 來解決 如何最好地支持 探索我們的宇宙系統 首先是機器人的任務 然後是人類的任務 在我轉移到 我的同事 他們將會告訴你 所有的 這個不可思議的細節 這個不可思議的發現 我只想說一點 NASA尋找生命的方法 有很多事情在發生 我非常興奮 我們有Europa Clipper 正在前往探索 Jupiter的冰層 來調查 下層海洋 下層的冰層 有沒有能力支持生命 接著我們會發射Dragonfly 被認為是 你一生中最興奮的科學任務 科學宇宙任務 它是一架飛機 它是SUV的尺寸 它將會是人類的 第一架飛機科學任務 飛到另一個世界 Dragonfly會探索 塞頓星球的奇妙世界 Titan 它是我們的太陽系統唯一的地方 它有海洋的液體 在表面 Dragonfly會讓我們 瞭解原生物化化學 在生命的起源之前 另一件我們在全宇宙 可能存在的世界 30年前 我們第一次發現一顆星球 圍繞著另一個星球系統 今天我們知道 有千萬個星球 這改變了我們 看我們的夜空 我們知道 一般來說 每顆星球都有一個星球在天空 正如我所說 每個新任務 都是專門設計 基於我們目前所獲得的知識 在這個情況下 你知道 這個知識讓我們 向前傾 研究一項概念任務 是在總統的預算中支持的 叫做住在現實世界的觀測室 這會讓我們 尋找住在現實世界 和生命的証明 在近百個星球之間 非常非常刺激 從它的優勢點 在深空 它會觀察 一系列的關鍵目標 讓我們去探索 讓我們把我們的航空母艦 看著它們 包括我們的驚人的 James Webb Space Telescope 當然 我們在2027年推出的 Nancy Grace 羅曼宇宙望遠鏡 非常興奮 耶羅曼 住在現實世界的觀測室 知識可以幫助 保護飛行員 和人類的基礎 安全在宇宙 它將會是 NASA最強大的望遠鏡 它將會是 保持美國的領導力 在宇宙 這非常重要 但是現在 回到現實 回到宇宙 所以我非常高興 將它轉移到 Dr. Katie Stack Morgan 告訴我們更多 關於宇宙工作的堅持 她在電話中與我們一起 拿走它,Katie 謝謝你,Nikki 發現一個 潛在生物標誌 或一個特徵或標誌 可能與生物過程 但需要更多的工作和研究 確認生物起源 這是我們與 今天所有人一起 發掘出的 多年努力 貢獻和合作 在航空研究室 和我們夥伴 國家和國際上的 這種發現 來自多年的 策略計劃 和科學分析 由航母團隊 以及 Mars社群 我們從 Mars 2020的發展 作為一個概念 回應 地球潛在研究的優先 到登陸地點選擇 現在到日常航行 航母 提供了 如此精彩的資料庫 我們會與您分享 今天 如果我們能提供 第一張圖片 我會提供一些 整體的地理背景 為發現 這些蝙蝠獲得的特徵 Perseverance 航母在2021年 登陸Geserau 這個地點被選為 多年來的 社群努力 因為我們決定 這個地點 真正是 Mars 2020的 任務目標 尋找舊生物的證據 在Mars 並組織了 一座雕塑 未來能夠 回到地球 Geserau被選擇 因為它位於 Mars最古老的 地面 露出一些最古老的雕塑 在任何地方 在宇宙系統 這些真正古老的雕塑 為我們提供了一扇窗戶 在我們自己的地球 並不具象徵性的 但這是一段時期 生命在地球出現 也可能在Mars出現 Geserau也無懈可擊地 是一個古老的湖 我們知道 因為我們有 兩條河流 進入雕塑 還有一條河流 出入雕塑 在這四年的任務中 Perseverance 探索了三個主要的 地球環境 在雕塑內 雕塑登陸在雕塑的地面 是一系列的礦石 包括礦泥流和礦物蒸發 有許多與水的互動 並保留了 可能微小的環境 可能能夠居住 雕塑後 轉移到西方的氾濫 在雕塑內 雕塑後 轉移到西方的氾濫 由古老土壤 轉移到雕塑內 由古老土壤 轉移到西方的氾濫 雕塑後 轉移到西方的氾濫 在西方的氾濫 進行了一個 大型地球環境 進行了一個 一旦研究完畢,漩渦有機會穿過雅緻沙漠 雅緻沙漠曾經存在的古老湖泊 雅緻沙漠已有超過3.5億年歷史 這片湖泊曾經充滿激烈的河流 帶著塵埃,沙漠和沙漠從洞穴外進入洞穴內 這種充滿能量的環境 可能是由於平靜的時期而發生的 河流會有較低能量的環境 由於阻礙而解決的洞穴 但最終,河流和湖泊都乾涸了 而亮眼的雅緻沙漠被揭露了 這片雅緻沙漠為我們錄製了 我們可以研究和探索的可能住宿環境 我們今天可以在雅緻沙漠上探索到 下一頁,請 我們可以看到亮眼的天使 透過堅持的眼睛 這片雅緻沙漠的明亮色彩 其目前的程度和放鬆 已經被我們透過千萬年的風暴 沉澱和氣候循環 雅緻沙漠的沉澱和氣候循環 是非常非常小的 加上這些岩石在河流環境下發生 這點對於沙漠的沉澱 來說,這點對於沙漠的沉澱 與這些物件 相互協助 我們將來將更多的 更多的意思來講 我們將使用所有的科學器材 來調查這些岩石 並嘗試將這些岩石 塗上最完整的圖像 看看這些岩石是如何建造的 他們被存放的環境 以及我們所看到的 有趣的功能 現在我要做的 是移動到下一個圖像 我們將移動到 塞雅各峯巖石的表面 這是你之前看過的 我想要做的 這個圖像 我只是想展示 我們在去年夏天 我們看到的這些岩石 是一層一層的 非常細緻的 粗糙的紅塵埃 它們含有了 這些奇妙的功能 我們稱它們為 Poppy Seeds 是岩石中的黑暗黑點 和Leopard Spots 是這些圓形的功能 它們周圍含有黑暗的邊緣 這些質感功能告訴我們 在這些岩石中 發生了一些很有趣的事情 一些化學反應 發生在它們被存放的那一刻 所以我們想了解 那些反應究竟發生了什麼 我們想要詢問的是 是否有可能 有機物質可能在 這些質感功能的發展中 所以我們轉到 我們的有機化學探測器 Sherlock器材 並將它訓練到 這塊岩石的位置 在那兩顆黑暗黑點 在岩石的表面上 我會轉到下一個圖像 我們得到的數據 來自Sherlock器材 是非常精彩的 你可以看到的 這塊黑暗黑點 是一系列的光線 叫做Raman光線 這些圖像中 有很多資訊 但我們要注意的重要的一點 就是我們看到的 這些光線中 有一個叫做G-band的東西 這張圖像中 對我們來說 G-band是一種 有機化物質存在 在這塊黑暗的 我們可以看到 G-band在 芝加哥峯的目標中 我們也可以看到 其他幾個位置 我們在Bright Angel的圖像中 調查過的東西 這告訴我們 我們有一個黑暗黑色的塵埃 存在著 有機化物質存在 所以我們下一個問題是 塵埃和有機化物質 來帶給我們看到的 有趣的蜥蜴和蝴蝶的 質感 所以我們轉到 Rover的手上 叫做Pixel器材 從這個器材中得到的結果 它是鋼link的 已被使用 技術 讓我們用鋼link的技術 某些黑暗的東西 由於這張圖像 其中一個東西 是一塊黑暗色的塵埃 它和 它的基礎 它們是一塊黑暗色的塵埃 這塊塵埃 在我們將來 這就是我們所說的鑽石和硫磺 鑽石和硫磺出現在蝴蝶的葉子和蝴蝶的邊緣 在蝴蝶的黃黃綠綠的地方 就是鑽石和硫磺融合在蝴蝶的核心 融合成鑽石和硫磺的鑽石和硫磺 我們認為是蝴蝶 我們認為是鑽石和硫磺的鑽石和硫磺 我們認為是蝴蝶 而我們將在非生物製成的水和化學物質中 是其融合成一種蝴蝶體 這些元素和軟化物質 經濟學總結中提出的 蝴蝶是一種生物 而蝴蝶是一種生物 蝴蝶是一種生物 而蝴蝶是一種生物 所以我們必須從這裡開始 繼續做更多的研究和實驗室設置 在地球上 最終帶回我們從這塊石頭取得的樣本 回到地球 以便我們可以做出最終決定 什麼過程其實給了這些 奇妙的質感 所以就這樣 我會關閉 然後我會轉到 我會轉到 林子希醫生的節目 謝謝Joel 所以為了總結 我真的想要提供一些 對我們今天來到這裡的觀點 首先我們很興奮 我們很興奮 宣佈了這份 公開評論的報告 關於這塊350億年代的 地球上的石頭 對吧 這也差不多是 我們看見地球上 生命中最早的化學物質 的時間 所以這些特色 是為了讓我們更瞭解 地球上的生物歷史 在去年宣佈後 公開評論的報告 是科學過程的 這讓NASA 把我們從這個任務中 和科學團隊 對這個數據的 提供給 更廣泛的科學社群 來進行更廣泛的研究 這項工作 為了研究 這裡描述的過程 會繼續 希望 最後 這會跟隨 把這些樣本 傳送到地球 讓他們可以 研究在地球實驗室 另外 我想提醒大家 我們在這裡描述的 是一個潛在的生物記錄 這是一個特徵 元素 物質 或特徵 可能有生物來源 但需要更多的數據 或進一步的研究 才能達到 生命的存在 或不存在的結論 最後 我們研究了地球 其中一個主要的目的 就是要決定 在過去 地球是否可住 或是生命 是否存在 這是我們 把Perseverance 傳送到 吉祥洞 我們在這裡 並不是 這個任務的 必然結果 它們是 數十萬人 有許多不同的任務 都是 徹底 和策略上 計劃的 發展 This is a Martian meteorite that was found in Antarctica But combined these kinds of work The curation of these meteorites The study of these meteorites in NASA labs With data from our missions like Viking Allowed us to characterize this meteorite And a whole host of other meteorites as coming from Mars Which allows us to do some additional context with our missions So all of that combined work There is no other space agency That has conducted such a long-term coordinated campaign In planetary exploration This demonstrates American leadership in space and in science And data from these robotic explorers Are now feeding forward to our plans to prepare humans To return to the moon and to go on to Mars As part of the Artemis mission And so thank you very much And I'm going to send it back to the moderator For time for questions I believe Thank you very much Thank you so much to all of our speakers today We are going to move on to the question and answer portion of today As a reminder to the media You can hit star 1 to get into the queue We were planning to take one question per person I also want to make sure you know We do have imagery available The imagery we showed As well as some animations that we did not If you go to nasa.gov You'll be able to see our press release And you will have access to imagery there With that we will go to our first question Which is from Marcia Dunn with the Associated Press Yes, hello, good morning For someone at NASA What's the latest on NASA's plans To retrieve the samples from Perseverance Has NASA made any decisions Yet on the options put forth By former administration Nelson before you step down Is there any kind of tentative timeline Thank you very much So listen We're looking at how we get this sample back Or other samples back What I said at the start was This is 30 plus years of exploring Mars And that is going to continue into the future This is exciting news What we're going to do is look at our budgets We're going to look at our timing And how do we spend money better And what technology do we have To get samples back more quickly And so that's a current analysis That's happening right now Again, what is the best way to do it Which is what we're looking at And thinking through at the moment Thank you so much Our next question is from Bill Harwood With CBS News Hi, yes, hi I'm curious One of my colleagues found a YouTube video From back in April That basically highlighted this very formation And talked about it being a possible biosignature I'm just wondering What's changed since then to warrant Raising this to the level of a news conference Was it simply the peer review process Running its course Because it really sounds very similar To what you guys reported back then Thanks Does Joel want to take it Joel should talk about it Since he's the author of the amazing paper Yeah, I'd be happy to, Bill Thanks for the question So, yeah, what has happened in the interim Between last summer and now Is a variety of things One, the continued exploration of Nuremberg So that we can collect more data From this locality And better understand the environment That these rocks were deposited in And really sort of firm up our understanding Of what type of setting they were formed in Allowed us to gather more data on these features That we have called potential biosignatures So that we can better understand The nature of the reactions That might give rise to them And then, of course, you know After a few more months Since that last press conference Of collecting data There's a long period of sort of aggregating And interrogating that data And writing it up And putting it together Into a comprehensive publication That then has to go through The peer review process And so that has all been going on Sort of in the background Between last summer and now So, yeah, that is what has happened Between then and now And I would highlight that, you know The peer review process Is a really important component Of being able to present these results here To you today And, Bill, that's part of the process, right? So, again, we find the sample We can have a lot of commentary That agrees with what NASA has found Some may disagree But to interrogate the data As Joel just mentioned And to have it peer reviewed What's exciting is, in the past What we thought it was Our peer reviewers would say it was not Our peer reviewers are saying Well, this actually could be What NASA thinks it is And that's why this is so exciting And that's why we want to have This press conference To share it with the world To share it with you And also we are ultra transparent, right? If we had this exciting news About the peer reviewers And what we think we found at NASA And I didn't bring it to you We didn't have everyone here together You might go You're trying to hide stuff from us Why didn't you tell us that a year ago? So we are here to say This is exciting And we want to share that news with, again The data that's been pressure tested With other scientists Who are like, this could be very real Anyone else want to... No, you nailed it Great answer, thank you so much Next we have Ken Chang With the New York Times Hi, thank you So this is for Secretary Tuffy I've talked to two scientists about this And they all say it's very interesting But that there are Potential diabolical explanations For these minerals And the only way to really find out Is to bring them back But the Trump administration In its budget request Called for the cancellation Of the Mars sample return mission Based on what Mr. Tuffy said earlier Is that not the case anymore That you are still looking to Possibly conduct that? So we have to look at all of our missions And we have to look at the cost And the time on each of the missions That are going to be deployed And have been deployed And because we care about resources And we care about the time frame We believe there's a better way to do this A faster way to get these samples back And so that is the analysis That we've gone through Can we do it faster? Can we do it cheaper? And we think we can And that's why we're not going to Take it back on Percy We're going to actually figure out A different way to bring it back Again, and we think we can do it faster And more cost effectively But again, I want to be really clear This is a 30-year process That NASA has undertaken President Trump didn't say Hey, let's divert Let's forget about Mars No, no, we're continuing our exploration And by the way, we've been very clear Under this president That we don't want to just bring samples Back from Mars We want to send our boots to the moon And to Mars And that is the work that we're doing And by the way, Ahmed has even said Maybe we'll send our equipment To test this sample to Mars itself All options are on the table But again, we're going to We're going to use the best options possible To do the best analysis possible To give you the best information possible All right then, I will move on To our next question Which is Irene Klotz from Aviation Week Thank you For Secretary Duffy, do you expect This finding will shuffle The administration's priorities For returning the samples And for Joel or Katie What else can be done remotely To better ascertain If the mudstone organics Are biologic or abiotic Thank you If Joel and Katie want to go first I'll answer that second Yeah, I can take that one, thank you Yeah, you know, while we were exploring The Bright Angel area We basically threw the entire Rover science payload at this rock And so we're pretty close to the limits Of what the rover can do on the surface In terms of making progress On that particular question And of course that was by design Since the payload of the Perseverance rover Was selected with a Mars sample return Effort in mind So the idea was for our payload To get us just up to the Potential biosignature designation And have the rest of the story Told by instruments here on Earth We are still in the midst Of analyzing the geologic context Of this sample And our scientists are continuing To do the work there Joel's paper represents I think kind of the overview And summary of our understanding But we have other scientists on the team Who will be putting out works Over the next year or so Digging more into these details So I think we'll learn more About the geologic setting of this sample And what that may mean For its potential Astrobiological potential And so that work will be ongoing But I think in terms of What we could do with the rover We threw the whole payload at it And the result was This exciting discovery Joel let me know If you have anything you want to add Now you nailed it Katie Thank you And I'll also add of course As we said As multiple folks have said today The other really important thing About this And this is a stage In the scientific process It is not just What else can we do with the rover But what else can different scientists Around the world Within our American science And laboratories and such Be able to do and analyze And find and explore And understand more What other potential causes There may be for this type of signal So it's the rover But it's also the broader Science community as well So thank you In regard to Does this change the mission I'd say no listen We are about manned exploration Human exploration But as part of human exploration You need science right And so what we do on Mars These missions help us In what we're going to do in the future As we do go back to the moon And eventually get to Mars We study our own atmosphere To learn from what we have here on Earth In our atmosphere What we can learn about Other atmospheres potentially In our galaxy and beyond And so no this is consistent With the president's vision and mission Of continuing the science To support human exploration Beyond Earth All right thank you very much Some interesting answers Next up we have Andrea Leinfelder With the Houston Chronicle Hi you began at this conference Talking about past discoveries That might have suggested life on Mars But ultimately were something else Or could have been something else Can you run us through some of those again Thank you Sure absolutely I mean of course there is The ALH84001 Which was an understanding Of a meteorite that we found That had some very interesting signatures Going further back There was the Viking data And trying to understand Exactly what that How to interpret that data But what I want to highlight And this is something We've talked about a few times here You know we think about these things And we try and frame these things In a way to communicate different ways Of what each of these detections are right So the first thing that happens right Is that you detect a signal That you know can result From biological activity You want to make sure That it's not contamination And then you try and understand That signal in the context of the area The context of the environment Where you found that signal And so one of the things That we're doing here Is as Secretary Duffy said We're trying to be very transparent right What we did is Originally we announced That we had found a signal This paper is showing that You know we understand the context Of the environment around it And you know we sort of As we think about these things We want to be clear What we are communicating here And that the next stage The next stage is to communicate And to see what the rest Of the science community right These things these discoveries May become more significant As more data comes in From other research Other science may show That there's other ways To create a signal like this But as we change these things over time You know we're showing that We're more and more excited about this As we learn more And as we've understood more All right we are looking at Probably about two more questions But we are certainly trying To get through as many as we can For anyone we don't get to today Definitely we'll ask you To send us notes And we will follow up But going on our next person Is going to be Eric Berger With Ars Technica Hi thanks very much The question for Secretary Duffy You know we talked a little bit About Mars sample return And obviously there's some Interesting things to study on Mars China's planning to launch The Tianwen-3 mission To return samples from Mars in 2028 Does it concern you that China is likely to be in a position To accomplish this before NASA So first Eric I love you guys All asking questions We got some of the brightest people At NASA with us I'll take them I was hoping your questions Were going to be more on You know more on this exciting News that we have today But you know listen We're running our plan right We're making the right calls For America and for our partners And again we lead And we are going to continue to lead But it's always important That we keep pushing We have to push Because we are in another space race And what I don't want to do And we all work very well together I want to make sure We're making the right decisions And I have to look at dollars And I have to look at time And I have to look at return And as we do that We thought well there could be A better way to do this To get these samples back And again just to continue with Missions that I don't think Can meet budgets and timing I think would be foolish on my part Because across government Every government Not just the U.S. government Resources are precious And we are going to use our resources To the best possible abilities To advance our missions the furthest And I would just tell you There's been a lot of conversation On science Science isn't going away at NASA We are leaning into the science Because we need it To make sure that we're successful On our missions to the moon and to Mars And we have Earth missions as well That have been mandated by Congress That is part of our science But again I've been given an ask For spending a little less money I think we can do that I know we can do that But I've told the team at NASA If we don't have the resources For the right missions Or the right people I will go to the President I'll go to the Congress I'll ask for more money But I feel pretty confident That with the money That we've been given In the President's budget We can accomplish our mission It might be a little more focused It's on human exploration But we can accomplish that mission And again I've fully committed That I would ask for more if I needed it And by the way The President loves space He asked me about it Which is a unique position To be in as the Acting Administrator But also to be the Secretary Of the Department of Transportation That I get to interface With the President quite a bit I give him updates How it's going What we're doing And he doesn't brush me off He wants to know He's excited about this And so if there was an issue With resources I would go to him And I'm sure he would support us I'm sure, listen What's interesting too This has been great to see This is bipartisan, right There's a lot of fights That you all see in Congress This is one space No pun intended Or maybe the pun was intended That you get bipartisan buy-in People get excited About what NASA does As Democrats, Independents And Republicans Everybody kind of loves it And they would also respond to us I think in a positive way Should we come to them And say we need resources For something in addition To what we have the money for today So no, the mission hasn't changed And we're going to continue to forge on And I feel very confident That we can do that May I add something I want to pull on the thread That is at no point Has this administration said We don't care about some polls We brought back samples From the OSIRIS-REx mission We opened those recently And we found amazing things From that asteroid Bennu Look at what we've done With the samples from Apollo We recently opened samples That hadn't been opened They were curated And we opened them And we've been able to study them With unprecedented machinery And instrumentation That we have here on Earth That did not exist When we first took the samples From Apollo So it shows the value Of these samples And these samples Are carefully curated These are not just going there And picking up a rock And bringing it home These samples are precious We want to make sure When we bring them home We bring them home right But just by the way They're very cool samples And they are precious They're precious We do have to work on the naming Of these samples I don't know what TTIJ21 Whatever it is Leopard spots We can do a little better On the naming part All right I said we'd do just one more question So we're going to sneak that in Again to the media online Please do write us emails We will follow up as needed But our very last question for today Will be Jeff Faust with Space News Good morning Probably a question best for Dr. Hurwitz You mentioned that there may be Possible non-biologic explanations For the features you've seen I wonder if you can elaborate On what those might be And if you could be able to Distinguish between them Short of having the samples Back in a lab on Earth Yeah, thanks for the great question So we actually go into this In some detail in the paper What we think is possible Is that the mix of ingredients That went into this mud Or into this rock The mud and the organic matter If combined under the right conditions Could be Could result in chemical reactions That could produce the minerals That we see in the absence of biology And really I would Maybe I'll just highlight one of them The iron sulfide mineral I described Called griegite One of the ways that you could combine The organic matter and iron and sulfur From the rock together And form that mineral Would be to heat the rock up And basically sort of cook those ingredients To produce that new mineral phase One of the things we sort of struggled with Maybe that's the right way to say it But we looked in as much detail As we possibly could To try to understand Whether these rocks actually showed Any signs that they were cooked And within those sort of Capabilities of the rover We weren't able to make that determination They really don't look like They had been heated To the temperatures That might be appropriate To that type of reaction But it is a pathway And I think it's one that We hope that the research community Will take these results And go off into laboratories And run experiments To try to recreate these features Under a variety of conditions Both biological and non-biological To see what are the options here For making these things that we've observed Thank you, Joel I also want to thank Katie, Nikki, Lindsay And Amit for being here I want to thank you all for tuning in I want to just reiterate We are going to be transparent If we have exciting news We're going to share it By the way, we're all looking forward To you all tuning in As we do Artemis 2 That's coming at the first part of next year Again, our mission back To go around the moon and home But I just want to If I could just say for a moment I've had the privilege of being here For roughly two months at NASA And I just want to reiterate What all of you at home know Which is this is one of the most amazing If not the most amazing institutions That America has Some of the brightest, smartest, dedicated people That this country has Doing this amazing science And again, we're going to continue To lean into it We're going to continue To lean into manned exploration And it's not easy It's really hard But when you have The smartest people in the world On this team Working to that end Success is never guaranteed But I feel very bullish On our future And what we're going to find And the places that we're going to go With this great team at NASA So thank you for tuning in We'll continue to let you know What we find, what we see, what we think As we go through this process So thank you very much