In Monday’s widely circulated press release, the space agency put it simply: “New findings from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars”. The hydrated salts, a mix of chlorates and perchlorates, are a smoking gun for the presence of water at all four sites inspected: the Hale, Palikir and Horowitz craters, and a large canyon called Coprates Chasma. Scientists developed a new technique to analyze chemical maps of the Martian surface obtained by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.
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NASA’s director of planetary science, Jim Green, said that Mars is not as dry and arid as expected in the past.
John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA, said the discovery may prove to be a sign of life. “We now have, I think, a great opportunity to be in the right locations on Mars to thoroughly investigate that”.
Ojha continues, “even if RSL are slightly underground, where it’s even colder than the surface temperature, the salts would keep the water in a liquid form and allow it to creep down Martian slopes”.
The rovers searching the planet’s surface have also found that the soil is much more moist than anticipated.
David Bowie finally has an answer to his question – yes, there may be life on Mars.
For years, many scientists have believed that there was liquid water on the red planet, as Mars has a temperature range where liquid water is possible.
Using an infra-red spectrometer from the MRO, the scientists revealed that the dark streaks were composed of hydrated salts, such as perchlorates or sulfates. “Our findings strongly support the hypothesis that recurring slope lineae form as a result of contemporary water activity on Mars”.
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These findings were published in the journal, “Nature Geoscience”, last September 28. In March, NASA said there was once more water on Mars than in Earth’s Arctic Ocean.
