Scientists found the first evidence that briny water may flow on the surface of Mars during the planet’s summer months, a paper published on Monday showed. This announcement came following a weekend’s worth of teasers by NASA to pique interest in the report. Scientists and researchers have yearned for years to get proof of water on Mars, because it’s a planet that should technically be able to sustain human life at some point in the future.
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For many years, astronomers had assumed there were oceans on Mars and saw evidence of canals, giving rise to the theories of Martians.
Note: Obviously I’m exaggerating the impact the discovery of liquid water on Mars will have on video games, but I really wanted an excuse to write this and celebrate this historic moment.
“There is liquid water today on the surface of Mars”, Michael Meyer, the lead scientist on NASA’s Mars exploration programme, told the Guardian. “This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water – albeit briny – is flowing today on the surface of Mars”. “In either case, the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes means that water plays a vital role in the formation of these streaks”, Ojha said in a statement. Primary among those ingredients, of course, is water, which makes the recurring slope lineae a prime spot to search for signs of extraterrestrial microbes.
Scientists developed a new technique to analyze chemical maps of the Martian surface obtained by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.
The press conference, which will be scheduled next week, is fuelling fires of conspiracy theorists the world over as NASA’s Mars announcement draws closer.
“Mars is not the dry, arid planet we thought of in the past”, according to Jim Green, the American agency’s planetary science director.
Firstly, it’s a huge plus for our future plans to send humans to the Red Planet, and possibly even colonise.
The liquid on Mars can’t be pure water.
Hydrated salts on these slopes at Horowitz crater The 100-meter-long streaks. The findings released Monday were based on data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been circling Mars since 2006. If life on Earth is any indication, water is the central building block to all animals, bacteria and everything else alive today.
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The answer to a question which has troubled scientists, science fiction writers and rock singers for generations has taken a giant leap forward with the discovery of liquid water flowing freely on the Red Planet.
