NASA scientists announced today that they have discovered concrete evidence there is liquid water flowing on Mars.
A team of scientists used an imaging spectrometer from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to detect signatures of hydrated minerals in a region where red streaks were previously spotted on the planet. The findings suggest that when the red streaks, dubbed recurring slope lineae (RSL), appear darker in the warmer season, water is present.
"Our quest on Mars has been to 'follow the water,' in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we've long suspected," said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water -- albeit briny -- is flowing today on the surface of Mars."
Hydrated salts discovered on the slopes would lower the freezing of the liquid brine, causing it to act in a similar way to salts used on the Earth's roads to melt ice. The researchers believe a shallow subsurface flow is likely responsible for the darkening phenomenon seen on the lineae.
"We found the hydrated salts only when the seasonal features were widest, which suggests that either the dark streaks themselves or a process that forms them is the source of the hydration. In either case, the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes means that water plays a vital role in the formation of these streaks," said Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, lead author of a report on the findings published Sept. 28 by Nature Geoscience.
The fascinating findings provide proof the darkening of the Martian slopes, which was fist observed five years ago, does indeed indicate the presence of liquid water.
"When most people talk about water on Mars, they're usually talking about ancient water or frozen water," he said. "Now we know there's more to the story. This is the first spectral detection that unambiguously supports our liquid water-formation hypotheses for RSL," Ojha said.
The findings could be extremely influential on the future of Mars exploration.
"It took multiple spacecraft over several years to solve this mystery, and now we know there is liquid water on the surface of this cold, desert planet," said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "It seems that the more we study Mars, the more we learn how life could be supported and where there are resources to support life in the future."
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