re: Depletions
I don't know enough about minerals to say, being an obvious crank, and biased towards water and life.
What's the deal with nitrogen, is it just that the apxs can't detect it?
They need to quit enforcing this 90 day spectroscopy embargo. Frankly I think Squyres is screwing up this extended mission. These geologists are extremely biased, and NASA is alienating many serious space advocates by their lackadaisical dismissal of the biological hypothesis. I smell fear.