From: '''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk   
      
   On 28/12/2025 15:56, john larkin wrote:   
   > On Sun, 28 Dec 2025 13:24:47 +0000, brian    
   > wrote:   
   >   
   >> In message , john larkin   
   >>  writes   
   >>> Astronauts who've handled Martian   
   >>> soil samples report it smells like spent gunpowder or hot metal, but   
   >>> the pervasive smell on the planet would be dominated by sulfur.   
   >>>   
   >>   
   >> Why does it need astronauts to do that ?   
   >>   
   >> Brian   
   >   
   > That's obviously google AI stupidity. Nobody has been to Mars and no   
   > samples have been returned.   
      
   Samples have been analysed in situ on the planet though since Viking.   
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_lander_biological_experiments   
      
   There are probes that will eventually retrieve Martian soil samples.   
   I'm not aware of Martian meteorites having any distinctive smell but   
   newly broken rocks can do sometimes.   
      
   > But it's probably stinky. And deadly.   
      
   It probably doesn't smell all that different to moon dust. Although   
   since Mars was once wet and is red rusty there is a distinct possibility   
   that at one time in the distant past it had photosynthesis of some sort   
   making oxygen. Rocky planets are born with a reducing atmosphere of   
   mostly hydrogen, water and methane much like Saturn's moon Titan is now.   
   Reduced iron salts are very water soluble and pale green.   
      
   A few Martian meteorites have reached Earth (about 0.5% of all those   
   found and classified are thought to be Martian). The odd one has even   
   had controversial claims of microfossils being found:   
      
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Hills_84001   
      
   Trouble is they could just as easily be diffusion limited inorganic   
   chemistry. They are identifiable by their non-Earth oxygen isotopic   
   signature and trapped gasses as of non-terrestrial non-lunar origin.   
   Inclusions contain gasses similar to what Viking measured on Mars.   
      
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_meteorite   
      
   Unlikely to be any more deadly than any other sandy dust.   
      
   It is an annoying place to try and land a space vehicle. More than   
   enough atmosphere to burn up on re-entry but not enough to make   
   parachutes work properly so ingenious ways of slowing down are needed.   
      
   --   
   Martin Brown   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)