Photos show evidence of recent water on Mars

**ZeoBandit** · 12.06.06, 02:49 PM

Photos show evidence of recent water on Mars
POSTED: 3:57 p.m. EST, December 6, 2006
Story Highlights
• Photos suggests liquid water flowed on Mars as recently as several years ago
• Strongest evidence yet that water even now sometimes flows on red planet
• Scientists: Images of gullies and trenches carved by fast-moving water
• NASA lost contact with Mars probe last month

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- New photographs from space suggest that water occasionally flows on the frigid surface of Mars, raising the tantalizing possibility that the red planet is hospitable to life, scientists reported Wednesday.

The new images, taken by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor before it lost contact with Earth, do not actually show flowing water. Rather, they show changes in craters that provide the strongest evidence yet that water coursed through them as recently as several years ago, and is perhaps doing so even now.

"This is a squirting gun for water on Mars," said Kenneth Edgett, a scientist at San Diego-based Malin Space Science Systems, which operates a camera on the Global Surveyor.

The news excited scientists who hunt for extraterrestrial life. If the finding is confirmed, they say, all the ingredients favorable for life on Mars are in place: liquid water and a stable heat source.

In all of its Mars exploration missions, NASA has pursued a "follow the water" strategy to determine if the planet once contained life or could support it now.

Scientists believe ancient Mars was awash with pools of water. And at present-day Mars' north pole, researchers have spotted evidence of water ice. But they have yet to actually see water in liquid form.

"This underscores the importance of searching for life on Mars, either present or past," said Bruce Jakosky, an astrobiologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, who had no role in the study.

"It's one more reason to think that life could be there."

Some researchers were skeptical that liquid water was responsible for the surface feature changes seen by the spacecraft. They said other materials such as sand or dust can flow like a liquid and produce similar results.

"Nothing in the images, no matter how cool they are, proves that the flows were wet, or that they were anything more exciting than avalanches of sand and dust," Allan Treiman, a geologist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston said in an e-mail.

The findings will appear in Friday's issue of the journal Science. (View the new images)

The Global Surveyor previously spotted tens of thousands of gullies that scientists believed were geologically young and carved by fast-moving water coursing down cliffs and steep crater walls. Scientists decided to retake photos of thousands of gullies in a search for evidence of recent water activity.

Two craters in the southern hemisphere that were originally photographed in 1999 and 2001 were examined again in 2004 and 2005, and the images yielded changes consistent with water flowing down the crater walls, according to the study.

Scientists said five to 10 pools of water rushed down the craters in each case. In both craters, scientists found bright, light-colored deposits several hundred yards long in gullies that were not present in the original photos. They concluded that the deposits -- possibly mud, salt or frost -- were left there when water recently cascaded through.

Edgett said a combination of factors, including the shape and color of the deposits, led the team to believe it was recent water action and not dust that slipped down the slope. He said dust would leave dark deposits.

Water cannot remain a liquid on Mars for long because of subzero surface temperatures and low atmospheric pressure that would turn water into ice or gas. But scientists theorize that liquid water is being shot up to the surface from an underground source, like geysers.

The Global Surveyor, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, abruptly lost radio contact with Earth last month. Several attempts to locate the spacecraft, which has mapped Mars since 1996, have failed and scientists fear the mission was likely at an end. (Full story)

Mars formed more than 4.5 billion years ago and scientists generally believe it went through an early wet and warm era that ended after 1.5 billion to 2.5 billion years, leaving the planet extremely dry and cold.

NASA's durable twin rovers have sent scientists strong evidence that the planet once had liquid water at or near the surface, based on observations of alterations in ancient rocks. The images from the Global Surveyor suggest the process is still occurring.

"We're now realizing Mars is more active than we previously thought and that the mid-latitude section seems to be where all the action is," said Arizona State University scientist Phil Christensen, who was not part of the current research.

**hatchetforce** · 12.06.06, 03:09 PM

**ZeoBandit** · 12.06.06, 03:24 PM

Nice. Damn Starbucks is everywhere!

**voivod** · 12.06.06, 05:18 PM

and shortly there will be a MSA (Martian Service Announcement) pleading other aliens not to pollute...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...24777546661764

**Kevy5150** · 12.06.06, 08:36 PM

Global warming? Maybe the martians are/were as stupid as humans.

**ExtraVeryHappy** · 12.06.06, 10:22 PM

Originally Posted by Kevy5150

Global warming? Maybe the martians are/were as stupid as humans.

Sorry, but it's quotes like this that causes people to not trust Al Gore and his ilk...

Mars' surface temperature averages -81 °F (-63 °C). The temperature ranges from a high of 68° F(20° C) to a low of -220° F(-140° C).
Mars is much colder than the Earth.

from
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/sub.../planets/mars/

There ain't no global warming happening out there...

**Kevy5150** · 12.06.06, 10:55 PM

Originally Posted by ExtraVeryHappy

Sorry, but it's quotes like this that causes people to not trust Al Gore and his ilk...

Mars' surface temperature averages -81 °F (-63 °C). The temperature ranges from a high of 68° F(20° C) to a low of -220° F(-140° C).
Mars is much colder than the Earth.

from
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/sub.../planets/mars/

There ain't no global warming happening out there...

Thank you for taking my post extra very seriously.

**WinterlessIceness** · 12.07.06, 03:47 AM

In other words, they found ice, not water.

**Goo** · 12.07.06, 04:19 AM

Originally Posted by ExtraVeryHappy

There ain't no global warming happening out there...

Indeed. Martians are very responsible in regards to enviromental issues.

**MF5150** · 12.07.06, 07:05 PM

This all very nice and good that we're spending billions of dollars to find out if somebody or something pissed on Mars one million years ago... and if they pissed... HOW?... there had to have been WATER!!! What a revelation. Why don't we put the money into something a little more worth while. I don't have any ideas so I guess I should shut up... but there has to be something out there more important.

**seenbad** · 12.07.06, 07:22 PM

Originally Posted by Kevy5150

Thank you for taking my post extra very seriously.

That was funny.

**seenbad** · 12.07.06, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by EvH_316_5150

This all very nice and good that we're spending billions of dollars to find out if somebody or something pissed on Mars one million years ago... and if they pissed... HOW?... there had to have been WATER!!! What a revelation. Why don't we put the money into something a little more worth while. I don't have any ideas so I guess I should shut up... but there has to be something out there more important.

By saying that, you are taking a stance that would put to death your great great great great great great grandchildren and the entire evh_316_5150 legacy.

**willy4pres** · 12.07.06, 07:36 PM

All this space stuff should be put on hold until we have enough technology to do a Mars mission for half the cost of 1 month in Iraq. Spend the money on shit in this country until then. Schools all over the country are eliminating band and sports because they don't have the money to support them. The space program has done nothing but produce theories that are eventually proven wrong every 3-5 years.

OK science dorks, hit me! Im ready for ya'!!!

**MF5150** · 12.07.06, 07:44 PM

Originally Posted by seenbad

By saying that, you are taking a stance that would put to death your great great great great great great grandchildren and the entire evh_316_5150 legacy.

Thank you for implying that I'm gonna have a legacy. you just made my Christmas!