Liquid water on Mars

rhombus · **on:** September 28, 2015, 01:23:01 PM

Today NASA announced that data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter appears to confirm that liquid water periodically flows on the red planet. Streaks periodically appear on rock formations (called recurring slope lineae) but a special instrument on the MRO called Crism has detected the presence of salts on the streaks. The presence of these salts would drop the freezing point of water by 80 degrees and its vaporisation rate by about 10 times, which would explain why the water can flow despite the freezing temperatures. There are still unanswered questions, however, such as where the water came from (these findings were made in the equatorial region of the planet, which is well away from the ice caps) and what is the significance in terms of the possibility of finding microbial life on the planet. The European Space Agency has already indicated that landings would be forbidden where liquid water is found, as that could cause contamination to any life that may exist on Mars.

In any case it is an incredible scientific finding.

The paper can be found here.

bestariana1girl · **Reply #1 on:** September 28, 2015, 03:05:46 PM

Wow! I love Cosmology so much! This is quite interesting, it's funny that theirs water on the red planet. Go figure

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Midnight · **Reply #2 on:** September 28, 2015, 04:37:39 PM

I'm glad to hear that they have forbidden the landings for the sake of preserving life in there, that actually caught me a little by surprise if I have to be honest.

This is a great finding and I'm looking forward for updates on the subject

!

rhombus · **Reply #3 on:** September 28, 2015, 10:53:49 PM

^ I should note that the statement about forbidding landings only concerned areas where flowing water could be confirmed, so this would not be a major deterrent against further missions to Mars. As of yet, of course, no life has been found on the planet and the apparent water flows have only been indicated on a very small area of the planet.

Kor · **Reply #4 on:** September 29, 2015, 11:20:11 AM

Still that is very interesting news, and pretty big also I'd say.

Ducky123 · **Reply #5 on:** October 02, 2015, 04:41:11 PM

Well, it's been suspected for a long time and now we seem to have a proof that there really is water on Mars. That certainly is BIG news