The finding increases the possibility that life may have existed in the past on Mars
One of the photos published yesterday by NASA at the press conference
Photo: NASA
In what they call "our most significant discovery to date," NASA scientists said yesterday (Monday) that they discovered evidence that in the distant past the planet Mars was full of lakes and seas of shallow water.
At a press conference held at NASA's Los Angeles laboratories, researchers said that new images obtained from a satellite orbiting Mars show rocks made up of layers of sediment. According to them, the discovery indicates that the difference between Mars and Earth was not as great as is commonly thought.
The new discoveries are a shot of encouragement for the Mars research program at NASA after last year the program lost the climate satellite that traveled around Mars and the "Mars Fuller Lander" that landed on the planet and "walked" on it.
"We see distinct and thick layers of rocks and within them various craters and depressions," said Dr. Michael Malin who studied the images. "It is possible (that these sediments) were formed by lakes or seas of shallow water."
"This is the first time we have this kind of irrefutable proof that layered rocks are common on Mars. "These images tell us that early Mars was very dynamic and may have been much more Earth-like than many of us have thought," said Malin.
Layered rocks that form where lakes once were are the most common on Earth. Their presence on Mars suggests that the planet once had abundant water sources that are a key component in the creation of life forms. The current discovery follows the 1996 discovery when researchers found bacteria-like objects and organic molecules on a meteorite that apparently originated from Mars.
"The story is still quite complicated, but nevertheless its implications are enormous" says Dr. Ken Edgett from NASA. "Mars has preserved for us, in its layered rocks, a record of events completely different from the events that take place on its surface today. It changes the way we look at the early history of Mars."
Independent scientists disagree about the significance of the discovery. According to many of them, it is actually a recycling of studies and known data with the aim of adding prestige and budget to NASA. Robert Craddock, a geologist at the Smithsonian Space Museum in the US, said that scientists have known about the layers on Mars for three decades. "Actually, they didn't see anything we hadn't seen before," Craddock told .space.com.
However, other scientists agree with NASA about the far-reaching implications of the discovery. "This is the first evidence of the existence of standing water on a large scale," said Wes Hunters, a former NASA chief space scientist who now runs a geophysical laboratory in Washington. "If the discovery stands up to a careful examination by the rest of the scientific community, there is no doubt that it is a fantastic discovery."
"Finding the geological layers is something that biologists have been hoping for," said Dr. Ken Nielson, director of the Center for the Study of Life at NASA. "Biologists' favorite sites for searching for fossils or evidence of past life on Earth are stratified lakes and marine sediments."
---
Photo: IP
A photograph from the spacecraft of the planet Mars, revealing hints of a channel where water once flowed
New evidence: Mars was covered in lakes and shallow seas
by Tamara Traubman
Researchers who analyzed photographs sent from the Orbiter spacecraft around the planet Mars, discovered evidence suggesting that billions of years ago a large part of the planet was covered by lakes and shallow seas, which left layers of sediment on its surface. The researchers believe that if life once developed on Mars, the areas where the sediments were discovered would be the best place to look for their fossils.
Cumulative scientific findings support the view that the cold and arid planet Mars was once a warm world with a thick atmosphere and an abundance of water. And where there is water, scientists say, life may also develop. In a statement published by the American space agency NASA, Dr. Michael Malin, the lead researcher, says that "ancient Mars was very dynamic, and may have been much more similar to Earth than many of us think." In June, Dr. Malin published hints of signs, according to which it is possible that in the last million years - and perhaps even today - water is still flowing on Mars erupting from underground reservoirs.
In the new report written by Malin with his partner, Dr. Kenneth Edgett, and which will be published in the scientific journal "Science", there is a detailed description of photographs sent from the "Mars Global Surveyor" spacecraft. The photographs show horizontal layers of sediments, which the researchers estimate were formed from the earliest geological period of Mars, 4.5-3.5 billion years ago.
Prof. Amiel Sternberg, from Tel Aviv University's School of Physics and Astronomy, says that the new photographs show details with "unprecedented resolution" as he defined it. The photographs show layers of sediments, as if they were formed in a process where sediments accumulate at the bottom of seas on Earth. The deposits were seen in craters and chasms, such as the giant crater Vals Marineris.
However, the researchers say, it is possible that other factors - such as volcanic eruptions or asteroids that collided with Mars - could have created similar geological forms. The report states that this scenario is indeed possible, but the high prevalence of these geological forms nevertheless suggests that at least some of them were created by water.
{Appeared in Haaretz newspaper, 6/12/2000}
One of the photos published yesterday by NASA at the press conference
Photo: NASA
In what they call "our most significant discovery to date," NASA scientists said yesterday (Monday) that they discovered evidence that in the distant past the planet Mars was full of lakes and seas of shallow water.
At a press conference held at NASA's Los Angeles laboratories, researchers said that new images obtained from a satellite orbiting Mars show rocks made up of layers of sediment. According to them, the discovery indicates that the difference between Mars and Earth was not as great as is commonly thought.
The new discoveries are a shot of encouragement for the Mars research program at NASA after last year the program lost the climate satellite that traveled around Mars and the "Mars Fuller Lander" that landed on the planet and "walked" on it.
"We see distinct and thick layers of rocks and within them various craters and depressions," said Dr. Michael Malin who studied the images. "It is possible (that these sediments) were formed by lakes or seas of shallow water."
"This is the first time we have this kind of irrefutable proof that layered rocks are common on Mars. "These images tell us that early Mars was very dynamic and may have been much more Earth-like than many of us have thought," said Malin.
Layered rocks that form where lakes once were are the most common on Earth. Their presence on Mars suggests that the planet once had abundant water sources that are a key component in the creation of life forms. The current discovery follows the 1996 discovery when researchers found bacteria-like objects and organic molecules on a meteorite that apparently originated from Mars.
"The story is still quite complicated, but nevertheless its implications are enormous" says Dr. Ken Edgett from NASA. "Mars has preserved for us, in its layered rocks, a record of events completely different from the events that take place on its surface today. It changes the way we look at the early history of Mars."
Independent scientists disagree about the significance of the discovery. According to many of them, it is actually a recycling of studies and known data with the aim of adding prestige and budget to NASA. Robert Craddock, a geologist at the Smithsonian Space Museum in the US, said that scientists have known about the layers on Mars for three decades. "Actually, they didn't see anything we hadn't seen before," Craddock told .space.com.
However, other scientists agree with NASA about the far-reaching implications of the discovery. "This is the first evidence of the existence of standing water on a large scale," said Wes Hunters, a former NASA chief space scientist who now runs a geophysical laboratory in Washington. "If the discovery stands up to a careful examination by the rest of the scientific community, there is no doubt that it is a fantastic discovery."
"Finding the geological layers is something that biologists have been hoping for," said Dr. Ken Nielson, director of the Center for the Study of Life at NASA. "Biologists' favorite sites for searching for fossils or evidence of past life on Earth are stratified lakes and marine sediments."
---
Photo: IP
A photograph from the spacecraft of the planet Mars, revealing hints of a channel where water once flowed
New evidence: Mars was covered in lakes and shallow seas
by Tamara Traubman
Researchers who analyzed photographs sent from the Orbiter spacecraft around the planet Mars, discovered evidence suggesting that billions of years ago a large part of the planet was covered by lakes and shallow seas, which left layers of sediment on its surface. The researchers believe that if life once developed on Mars, the areas where the sediments were discovered would be the best place to look for their fossils.
Cumulative scientific findings support the view that the cold and arid planet Mars was once a warm world with a thick atmosphere and an abundance of water. And where there is water, scientists say, life may also develop. In a statement published by the American space agency NASA, Dr. Michael Malin, the lead researcher, says that "ancient Mars was very dynamic, and may have been much more similar to Earth than many of us think." In June, Dr. Malin published hints of signs, according to which it is possible that in the last million years - and perhaps even today - water is still flowing on Mars erupting from underground reservoirs.
In the new report written by Malin with his partner, Dr. Kenneth Edgett, and which will be published in the scientific journal "Science", there is a detailed description of photographs sent from the "Mars Global Surveyor" spacecraft. The photographs show horizontal layers of sediments, which the researchers estimate were formed from the earliest geological period of Mars, 4.5-3.5 billion years ago.
Prof. Amiel Sternberg, from Tel Aviv University's School of Physics and Astronomy, says that the new photographs show details with "unprecedented resolution" as he defined it. The photographs show layers of sediments, as if they were formed in a process where sediments accumulate at the bottom of seas on Earth. The deposits were seen in craters and chasms, such as the giant crater Vals Marineris.
However, the researchers say, it is possible that other factors - such as volcanic eruptions or asteroids that collided with Mars - could have created similar geological forms. The report states that this scenario is indeed possible, but the high prevalence of these geological forms nevertheless suggests that at least some of them were created by water.
{Appeared in Haaretz newspaper, 6/12/2000}
One of the photos published yesterday by NASA at the press conference
Photo: NASA
In what they call "our most significant discovery to date," NASA scientists said yesterday (Monday) that they discovered evidence that in the distant past the planet Mars was full of lakes and seas of shallow water.
At a press conference held at NASA's Los Angeles laboratories, researchers said that new images obtained from a satellite orbiting Mars show rocks made up of layers of sediment. According to them, the discovery indicates that the difference between Mars and Earth was not as great as is commonly thought.
The new discoveries are a shot of encouragement for the Mars research program at NASA after last year the program lost the climate satellite that traveled around Mars and the "Mars Fuller Lander" that landed on the planet and "walked" on it.
"We see distinct and thick layers of rocks and within them various craters and depressions," said Dr. Michael Malin who studied the images. "It is possible (that these sediments) were formed by lakes or seas of shallow water."
"This is the first time we have this kind of irrefutable proof that layered rocks are common on Mars. "These images tell us that early Mars was very dynamic and may have been much more Earth-like than many of us have thought," said Malin.
Layered rocks that form where lakes once were are the most common on Earth. Their presence on Mars suggests that the planet once had abundant water sources that are a key component in the creation of life forms. The current discovery follows the 1996 discovery when researchers found bacteria-like objects and organic molecules on a meteorite that apparently originated from Mars.
"The story is still quite complicated, but nevertheless its implications are enormous" says Dr. Ken Edgett from NASA. "Mars has preserved for us, in its layered rocks, a record of events completely different from the events that take place on its surface today. It changes the way we look at the early history of Mars."
Independent scientists disagree about the significance of the discovery. According to many of them, it is actually a recycling of studies and known data with the aim of adding prestige and budget to NASA. Robert Craddock, a geologist at the Smithsonian Space Museum in the US, said that scientists have known about the layers on Mars for three decades. "Actually, they didn't see anything we hadn't seen before," Craddock told .space.com.
However, other scientists agree with NASA about the far-reaching implications of the discovery. "This is the first evidence of the existence of standing water on a large scale," said Wes Hunters, a former NASA chief space scientist who now runs a geophysical laboratory in Washington. "If the discovery stands up to a careful examination by the rest of the scientific community, there is no doubt that it is a fantastic discovery."
"Finding the geological layers is something that biologists have been hoping for," said Dr. Ken Nielson, director of the Center for the Study of Life at NASA. "Biologists' favorite sites for searching for fossils or evidence of past life on Earth are stratified lakes and marine sediments."
---
Photo: IP
A photograph from the spacecraft of the planet Mars, revealing hints of a channel where water once flowed
New evidence: Mars was covered in lakes and shallow seas
by Tamara Traubman
Researchers who analyzed photographs sent from the Orbiter spacecraft around the planet Mars, discovered evidence suggesting that billions of years ago a large part of the planet was covered by lakes and shallow seas, which left layers of sediment on its surface. The researchers believe that if life once developed on Mars, the areas where the sediments were discovered would be the best place to look for their fossils.
Cumulative scientific findings support the view that the cold and arid planet Mars was once a warm world with a thick atmosphere and an abundance of water. And where there is water, scientists say, life may also develop. In a statement published by the American space agency NASA, Dr. Michael Malin, the lead researcher, says that "ancient Mars was very dynamic, and may have been much more similar to Earth than many of us think." In June, Dr. Malin published hints of signs, according to which it is possible that in the last million years - and perhaps even today - water is still flowing on Mars erupting from underground reservoirs.
In the new report written by Malin with his partner, Dr. Kenneth Edgett, and which will be published in the scientific journal "Science", there is a detailed description of photographs sent from the "Mars Global Surveyor" spacecraft. The photographs show horizontal layers of sediments, which the researchers estimate were formed from the earliest geological period of Mars, 4.5-3.5 billion years ago.
Prof. Amiel Sternberg, from Tel Aviv University's School of Physics and Astronomy, says that the new photographs show details with "unprecedented resolution" as he defined it. The photographs show layers of sediments, as if they were formed in a process where sediments accumulate at the bottom of seas on Earth. The deposits were seen in craters and chasms, such as the giant crater Vals Marineris.
However, the researchers say, it is possible that other factors - such as volcanic eruptions or asteroids that collided with Mars - could have created similar geological forms. The report states that this scenario is indeed possible, but the high prevalence of these geological forms nevertheless suggests that at least some of them were created by water.
{Appeared in Haaretz newspaper, 6/12/2000}
