Water On Mars?

Nasa’s Curiosity rover has found that water can exist as a liquid near the Martian surface.

12:44 14 April 2015

A recent study that analyzed the information gathered by Nasa’s Curiosity suggests that there is a possibility that liquid water can be found on Mars. Although the planet should be too cold to support liquid water at the surface, salts in the soil lower its freezing point allows briny films to form. This supports a theory that dark streaks seen on features such as crater walls could be formed by flowing water. 

 

Javier Martin-Torres, a co-investigator on the Curiosity mission and lead scientist on REMS, said: "What we see are the conditions for the formation of brines on the surface. It's similar to when people were discovering the first exoplanets.

 

"They were not seeing the planets, but they were able to see the gravitational effects on the star.

 

"These perchlorate salts have a property called deliquescence. They take the water vapour from the atmosphere and absorb it to produce the brines."

 

He added: "We see a daily water cycle - which is very important. This cycle is maintained by the brine. On Earth we have an exchange between the atmosphere and the ground through rain. But we don't have this on Mars."