Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Nasa Mars water announcement: agency announces it has found proof of flowing water, improving chances of supporting alien life

The full details and implications of the findings to be set out in a press conference

Andrew Griffin
Monday 28 September 2015 15:59 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars — a discovery with potentially huge implications for the possibility of life on the planet.

Scientists have long suspected that the planet might have running water. But the new findings confirm that it is on the planet, combined with “hydrated salts” in a brine.

Normally, water on Mars freezes or evaporates, because of the intense environment on the planet. But the addition of salts means that it is much more stable, allowing it to survive on the Red Planet.

Scientists have long speculated that the Recurring Slope Lineae — or dark patches — on Mars were made up of briny water. But the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding the hydrated salts.

The new research is based on an analysis of spectral data from the American space agency Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. That technology breaks down reflected light into a chemical "fingerprint", allowing scientists to see what a substance is made of.

The Mars scientists devised a new method that allowed chemical signatures to be extracted from individual image pixels, providing a much higher level of resolution than had been achieved before.

Mars on Earth

“Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) are seasonal flows on warm Martian slopes initially proposed, but not confirmed, to be caused by briny water seeps,” the team behind the discovery wrote in another paper, due to be delivered this week. “Here we report spectral evidence for hydrated salts on RSL slopes from four different RSL locations from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars on board Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

“These results confirm the hypothesis that RSL are due to present-day activity of briny water. “

At four locations, Palikir Crater, Horowitz Crater, Hale Crater, and Coprates Chasma - a huge Martian canyon - they found evidence of RSL salt deposits. The most common salts were magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate and sodium perchlorate, all of which are consistent with flowing briny water.

The scientists wrote: "Water is essential to life as we know it. The presence of liquid water on Mars today has astrobiological, geologic and hydrologic implications and may affect future human exploration."

Just where the water has come from still remains an unsolved mystery.

Theories include the melting of near-surface ice, absorption from the thin Martian atmosphere, and seasonal discharges from local aquifers, layers of water-bearing rock.

Additional reporting by agencies

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in