Water on Mars…Maybe
Images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are sending back new and exciting pictures for NASA scientists to study.
Scientists believe dark finger-like streaks in the soil on Mars indicate underground, seasonal liquid water streams. It’s not definitive proof that water exists in a liquid form on Mars but it is encouraging news for those hoping to find signs of life on the red planet.
What puzzles astronomers and astrobiologists most is that no NASA sensors have picked up the chemical signature for water. But that may be because there isn’t a lot of it and the thin Martian atmosphere makes it hard to detect once it reaches the surface.
It will be several years before a Mars rover will be able to probe beneath the surface and see if there is flowing water on our planetary neighbor.
Until then encouraging photos of dark streaks that seem to ebb and flow with the seasons will have to keep Mars life hunters happy.
“NASA’s Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form, and it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration.” — Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator
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