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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: NASA finds liquid water on Mars NASA finds liquid water on Mars The World Today Michael Edwards Posted August 05, 2011 17:21:10 PHOTO: The features are present during the Martian summer and then disappear during the colder months. (Reuters) AUDIO: Flowing water on Mars could hold key to life (The World Today) MAP: United States NASA scientists say they have found what could be the first evidence of flowing water on the surface of Mars. Recent images broadcast from the surface from NASA's Reconnaissance Orbiter probe show dark, finger-like features that appear to extend down the slope of a crater on the surface of Mars. The features are present during what would be the Martian summer and then disappear during the colder months. Frozen water was discovered on the Martian surface a decade ago. The discovery is significant as scientists say the chance of finding life on Mars is much higher if there is flowing water. Geophysicist Philip Christensen, who is on the team assessing the images, says it is the best evidence of liquid water occurring on Mars to date. "We know Mars has a lot of ice, but this is the first time we've seen the potential for liquid water," he said. "It might be salty water, but it is still liquid and...the key here is not that Mars doesn't have a lot of ice, but liquid water certainly to an organism is very, very, very different than ice." Scientists across the globe are excited by the discovery and it is predicted the water is very salty. University of Arizona Professor Alfred McEwan, who is the principle investigator of the project, says this prediction comes from past explorations of the planet's surface. "We know the surface is salty from all of the past landers and rovers, from Martian meteorites, from orbital remote sensing, so any water that flows in the sub-surface or surface is going to get salty," he said. "Furthermore, the salt serves to depress the freezing point of the water, so in places where it is below freezing and we see this activity, it is still plausible for that to be salty water." VIDEO: New evidence of flowing water on Mars (ABC News) Thrive Many scientists are sceptical this type of environment could sustain life, but biochemist Lisa Pratt says there are organisms which could thrive in this type of environment. "If the environment is one in which it's liquid seasonally, but pretty much freezes up solid at other times a year, then that would have to be an organism that could go into a dormant state or could go into a resting state and just patiently hang out near the surface until spring comes around again," she said. "This is a strategy that we see many organisms on Earth using to get through either long, dry spells or to get through long, cold spells so if there were to be evolving organisms on Mars, I don't see any reason why they couldn't adapt to that kind of seasonally available, very brief access to resources." Life possible Radio National science commentator Chris Smith told the ABC's breakfast program this morning that life on Mars is possible. "To keep that liquid water under the ambient conditions on Mars, you would need a very strong salt solution, so any kind of life that was able to exploit that environment would have to [be] extremely specialised and very, very, very, very robust, but obviously where there is water, there can be life so I guess it is an open question," he said. Despite NASA winding back many of its other projects, such as the space shuttle, it is still looking to discover more about the solar system. NASA is scheduled to launch an ambitious new mission to the system's largest planet, Jupiter, on Friday (US time). It says the craft, called Juno, will probe deeper into the planet than any previous mission. It will take the spacecraft five years to reach its destination. Topics: planets-and-asteroids, space-exploration, united-states
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