Why isn't water on Mars getting more news?

Question

Seriously, this is a big thing, and yet its being overshadowed by Brett Farve and elections

Answer 1

The real surprise would have been to find no water on Mars near the "ice" cap.

There is water everywhere in the solar system. Including (maybe) just under Mercury's North pole.

For example, Neptune's satellite Triton (which might have started life as a "plutoid") is suspected of having a water mantle around a rocky core.  When it was captured by Neptune, the tidal braking would have liberated enough energy that the mantle became a pressure cooker, with temperatures around +400 C and enormous pressure, because of the frozen crust, keeping the water liquid at that temperature (750 F).  Part of the mantle could still be liquid water.

In comparison, Mars is rather ho-hum.

Answer 2

  If they did prove they discovered water on mars it would get a lot of news.  

Answer 3

Maybe it's just me but i think that the only people who showed any interest are those who want to know about water on Mars, also for me they are just confirming something i've suspected for a long time now, so once the news was out it got a lot of attention from people right away and was soon put on the back page to make room for the grayhound bus slaying story and others, i myself left a few comments about the article saying "now that ice/water has been discovered on Mars they should try and find out if the ice/water originated on the planet or was deposited there by comets millions of years ago", i just think that people think of finding water on Mars to be a minor mildstone in the scientific community and don't really place any value on the info.

Answer 4

Because they've said this time and time again...isn't it like old news?

Answer 5

How many more times are we going to "discover" water on Mars? It seriously seems like this is like the third or fourth time.

Answer 6

Because its not much of a surprise.  Everyone knows that Mars used to have oceans. Based on photographs of the planet, It used to have running water even more recently.  The water is no longer liquid.  It had to go somewhere.  It either all sublimated into the atmosphere and was lost into space or it didn't.  If it didn't, it would exist in the form of subsurface ice.  I suspect the NASA researchers were looking for some ice, and they found some.  I can find ice in my freezer and it doesn't make the news either.  If large deposits could be found it could make surviving on Mars somewhat easier in the future.  But currently we do not have the technology.  

Answer 7

Since there have been crystalline shapes and clear traces of sedimentary movement (old rivers) known for some time, having confirmed the presence of water conclusively is less exciting. At this point, even confirming it is still old news. Proof of sustainable life such as the presence of bacteria or fossilized plants is more likely to drive interest at this point than the (admittedly geekily cool) academic proof of water.

Answer 8

mars is a big planet and we are a big planet there met be people live there in mars .. not just human ?

Answer 9

They were fairly certain there was some there somewhere a few years ago, so its not really that big of a surprise.

Beyond that, Americans havent been as much into space exploration after we landed on the moon

Answer 10

I think that it's just a matter of people being most interested in subjects that they perceive as directly affecting their life, even if that perception is wrong. For instance, People pay more attention to presidential elections than local ones, even though their local officials probably have more impact on their daily lives.

I think that for most people, the water on Mars news is interesting only in a "gee-wiz" sort of way.  It's neat and all, but what does it mean to ME?