NASA confirms presence of Liquid water on Mars
A new research has found out that liquid water exists on the surface of Mars, raising hopes for the possibility of life on the red planet.
The study, which was published on Monday in Nature Geosciences journal, is based on data collected by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
According to the research, during the warmer months of summer, liquid water flows down canyons and crater walls in Mars.
In pictures taken from Mars orbit, cliffs and the steep walls of valleys and craters can be seen streaked with summertime flows.
The source of the water is still not known, but scientists believe that it may stem from underground ice or salty aquifers, or condense out of the thin Martian atmosphere.
“There is liquid water today on the surface of Mars,” said Michael Meyer, the lead scientist on the space agency’s Mars exploration program, adding, “Because of this, we suspect that it is at least possible to have a habitable environment today.”
Researchers have previously known that the planet had water in the past as photos received in the 1970s showed a surface crossed by dried-up rivers and plains that had once immersed beneath huge lakes.
Four years ago, a modern camera on MRO provided pictures of what appeared to be little streams running down crater walls from late spring to early autumn and mission scientists called the flows “recurring slope lineae” or RSL.
Analyzing the chemistry of the RSL flows, scientists found that there were evidence of hydrated salts --a mix of chlorates and percholorates--- when the dark flows appeared.
As the surface of Mars rises above -23C, the flows appear since the water can run in such frigid conditions due to the presence of the salts that decrease the freezing point of water, keeping it liquid far below 0C.
Now, scientists are seeking to find where the water comes from.
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