It is widely accepted that the Red Planet once hosted plentiful water in liquid form, and still has water today, albeit frozen in ice underground.
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Basically, it would be a shame to destroy Mars because of a bacterial hitchhiker, so we’ll have to save rover exploration for another day.
The evidence advanced by the space agency Monday centers on a few unusual streaks found on steep slopes on the Martian surface.
The water could come from below the surface, so it is “imperative” to find other, more accessible places on the planet where the same phenomenon occurs and to look there for subterranean sources of water, Myer said.
Earlier this year, NASA said nearly half of Mars’ northern hemisphere had once been an ocean, reaching depths greater than 1.6 kilometers.
The scientists made this discovery by studying long streaks that would pop up during the summer on the planet’s surface – what they call “recurring slope lineae”. Plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen, so crops could be critical if humans ever attempt to transform Mars into a more hospitable planet – one with a breathable atmosphere. These salts contain a mixture of chlorates and perchlorates – a solid evidence of water present on mars at 4 sites namely Coprates Chasma canyon, Horowitz, Palikir and Hale craters.
Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA and a consultant on the film, said there’s probably an easier method than the one used by Watney, played by Matt Damon in the upcoming movie (due out Friday, October 2). Temperatures are usually well below zero Celsius and the atmospheric pressure is such as that any liquid water will boil away rapidly.
WILL OCKENDEN: And that ruled out falling rocks or land slippage as the reason for the dark, finger like areas.
“This does not prove that there is life on Mars“. And of course, are we alone? “We do know that a good portion of Mars was once covered in water, and we know that water was flowing in a very natural state like it does on Earth, because we see the ancient river beds”.
Water’s affect on prospective our investigation aside, everyone appears most enthusiastic about the potential of looking for life span on another planet. There’s still a lot of work to get done before we send humans to Mars, but you can trust that it’s one of NASA’s biggest targets.
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MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Rachel Webster, professor of Astrophysics at the University of Melbourne, ending Will Ockenden’s report.
