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NASA to announce 'Mars mystery solved'
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Sounds like a sneaky way to gin up interest in a non-event, but there's one way to find out.
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No little green men...
Scientists are reporting that Mars appears to have not only frozen water but flowing streams of salty water, at least in the summertime. They say their latest observations "strongly support" the longtime theory that salt water flows down certain Martian slopes each summer. These dark, narrow streaks tend to appear and grow during the warmest Martian months, and fade the rest of the year. Salt lowers the freezing point of water, and scientists say that would explain these seasonal briny flows. Because water is essential to life, Monday's findings could have major implications. The researchers say further exploration is warranted to determine whether any microscopic life might exist at modern-day Mars. They based their findings on data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been circling Mars since 2006. |
Very interesting, but IMO still not "confirmed" and this has been known about for years. Definitely interesting but I doubt there will be much if any microbial life on the surface of Mars. Probably subterranean microbes though in my opinion.
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Actually, it is "confirmed" (as far as science can allow without seeing it in person). That's what the announcement was. They confirmed the presence of liquid salt water that appears seasonally in channels. The part they've know for years is that there's frozen water under the poles.
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Not really, or at best that's misleading. They confirmed the presence of hydrated salts in a location with streaking which would be consistent with liquid water. There are other possible ways that both could be present in the same location without requiring flowing liquid water at the surface. Liquid subsurface water is a near certainty.
Perchlorate was confirmed on Mars directly by the Phoenix lander at the landing site in 2008. RSL's have been seen for several years by various orbiters. |
Unless you sample it directly or see some sort of remote spectometry report, it's not confirmed. Calm down, everybody.
Edit after reading a story from NASA: they have remote spectrometers. It's not water. There is a strong suspicion that probably it's various chemicals that include water, and "calm down, everybody" should be the byword in newsrooms across the world. |
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