Strongest Evidence of Water on Mars

Strongest Evidence of Water on Mars & Lives may be Possible

This undated image released by the European Space Agency taken from on board the European Space Agency probe Mars Express shows of a patch of ice sitting on the floor of a crater near the planet's north pole according the the agency. NASA scientists on Thursday said they have found "repeated and predictable evidence of water" flowing on Mars.


It’s known that there are frozen water deposits on Mars. Now, it seems that there are seasonal streams of liquid water flowing across the surface of the Red Planet, say astronomers, including an Indian-origin scientist.

In fact, it was U.S. space agency NASA which said that pictures taken from its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft showed finger-like features which may be flows of salty water spilling over the rims of craters.

Lujendra Ojha and colleagues at the University of Arizona now claim that, if confirmed, the discovery could finally help establish whether life could be sustained on Mars

Source : http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article2324448.ece
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NASA probe shows new evidence of water on Mars :

New images of the craters of Mars may be the best evidence yet of flowing, liquid water, an essential ingredient for life on the planet.

The findings, published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science, came from extremely high-resolution images taken by a powerful camera called HiRISE aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the planet since 2006.

A sequence of images from MRO shows long, brown streaks in the Martian spring and summer. In the colder seasons, these streaks disappeared, suggesting that they could be the flow of briny water.

“We haven't found any good way to explain what we’re seeing without water,” lead author Alfred McEwan of the University of Arizona said during a press briefing Thursday.

Scientists say the water would be briny and salty, and have a freezing point much lower than water on Earth.

Source : http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/nasa-probe-shows-new-evidence-of-water-on-mars-photos/2011/08/05/gIQArIyOwI_blog.html