This time, however, NASA found strong evidence that supports the fact that water flows on Mars today, like right now. “Under certain circumstances, liquid water has been found on Mars”, said Jim Green, the agency’s director of planetary science.
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Since NASA plans to send humans to Mars in the 2030s, could their habitat be built near one of the areas with water so astronauts could use it for drinking and to grow crops? While it’s long been suggested that water has existed on the cold, desolate planet, most likely as frozen-solid ice, NASA is now able to reveal that there is in fact flowing water to be found.
Even if it turns out there isn’t now life on Mars, this is a positive sign the planet is potentially fit to live on.
“Discovery is why we do science”, Grunsfeld said.
The discovery was made when scientists developed a new technique to analyze chemical maps of the surface of Mars obtained by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. “Because it means that this liquid water can be used for perhaps, irrigation, drinking water, and even rocket fuel”.
For fans who can not wait, the announcement appears to be a confirmation of salty water flowing on the red planet’s surface, CNN reports.
Lujendra Ojha, one of the researchers on the project, said: “Something was hydrating these salts, and it appeared to be these streaks that come and go with the seasons”.
NASA’s study, published in Nature Geoscience, explains something called the recurring slope lineae, or RSL, which are dark, streaky streams that typically appear on the planet’s surface during the warmer seasons.
RSL occur in many different locations on Mars, from equatorial regions up to the planet’s middle latitudes. Now scientists will explore further to find out if there is a substantial amount of water in aquifers close to the surface.
In March, NASA announced that Mars may have once had a sea similar to the Atlantic Ocean on Earth. Exploration by the Curiosity Rover proves that billions of years ago it was once a planet similar to Earth.
Because water is essential to life, the findings could boost the notion of life on Mars.
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The discovery “confirms that water is playing a role in these features”, said Alfred McEwen, a planetary scientist with the University of Arizona. About 87% of that water has been lost to space, researchers said.
