Norman Slip, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Norman Slip, Professor of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences estimate that the water becomes salty only when it comes in contact with the ground and there is a reasonable chance that underground, it is able to support life
The new findings indicate a seasonal flow of liquid water on Mars, most likely from an underground source, where perhaps this salty water could support life
The thin, dark streaks on the slopes of Bamai hills like the one in the section of the Horowitz Crater could have been formed by the seasonal flow of water on present-day Mars. The channels are several hundred meters long
On Monday, NASA announced that scientists had discovered flowing water on Mars.
These findings, discovered by the MRO spacecraft, highlight a signature of mineral hydrates moving downstream in the walls of a particular canyon on the planet. These bands are darker and therefore appear to flow down a steep mountain in the hot seasons and disappear in the colder seasons - when the temperature is below minus 23 degrees.
The presence of salts, in particular perchlorate in these channels known as seasonally recurring channels, lowers the freezing temperature of these liquids. The researchers believe that the channels were formed by the shallow flow of underground fluids from nearby land.
Scott Hubbard, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University, worked at NASA for 20 years, including a four-year stint as director of the Ames Research Center. Hubbard was not involved in the new research but he played a leading role in launching NASA's long-term program to explore Mars. Hubbard says that the findings increase the chance of discovering life on Mars. He also added that the discovery will change the dynamics of future manned missions to Mars.
Norman Sleep, a professor of geophysics and planetary sciences who has published numerous academic papers on the habitability of Mars and the red planet's plate tectonics, says the water chemistry may be friendlier to life underground than it appears on the ground.
What is the likelihood that liquid water is common throughout Mars? Is the planet wetter than previously believed?
Hubbard: "I believe that water is probably more common than we thought until now. The distribution of water ice on Mars is global, and these formations are scattered everywhere. The discovery was made possible thanks to a systematic approach to the study of Mars with increasing resolution, in particular with the help of MRO, which allowed us to examine changes on a daily and seasonal basis. Once they knew to look for these seasonal channels (RSL) they found dozens. We now have pretty strong evidence of water flowing on the surface of Mars, and the implications are huge.
How does the discovery affect the chances of life in the past or present on Mars?
Hubbard: "There is a lot of data showing that Mars was habitable in the past. The presence of flowing water on Mars today means that it could be habitable today, but only for underground life. There is energy, there is liquid water and the last thing that should be waited for and it may come from the Curiosity rover is evidence of the existence of complex organic molecules. These are the fingerprints of life, and have been the subject of research for decades. Also, for future manned missions, the fact that there is ice there that can turn into water means that it is possible to live off the land. You don't need to take so much water in advance, and that's also an important consideration."
Slip: "Salt water at depth may be better for life than the dry conditions prevailing on the surface of the land. We do not know how this process is regenerated, but if there are large reservoirs underground, it is unlikely that they are full of perchlorate minerals. Perchlorate is not typically present in Martian soil because it reacts with the iron in rocks to form rust. We know that the surface of Mars is covered with perchlorates, so it seems to me that the liquid inside the soil has medium or even low salinity - good conditions for life, but they become unlivable when they leave the springs and combine with the perchlorates on the ground."
How can these findings affect the following missions - in orbit or on the ground?
Hubbard: The first question I would ask the mission planners is to continue to catalog the distribution of this water and send the Curiosity rover into the nearest channel to explore this salty water. It would be wonderful to get the ground truth. If they find one of these tracks within driving distance of Curiosity, maybe even 10 km I would say - go for it. One problem, however, is the report that the Academy of Sciences has classified these channels as special areas, and there is a big debate about their protection - are we able to explore them without harming what might be there."
Slip: "These findings are a reason to consider the reddening atmosphere during the sterilization process of the spacecraft sent there. There are several ways to sterilize the spacecraft so that a creature from Earth cannot survive on Mars and it is important to avoid using sterilization mechanisms found on Mars. We know of several perchlorate-resistant creatures on Earth, so sterilizing the spacecraft using bleach (based on chlorine AB) will not work. Because these creatures are pre-adapted to life in the perchlorate environment on Mars. Mars is still very cold so sterilization by heating could be a good alternative."
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- Be careful of contamination of Mars with terrestrial bacteria - scientists grapple with the question of what the discovery of water on Mars means for life there and for the possibility of landing humans on it
- NASA confirms in a press conference: brackish water flows on Mars today
- The MRO spacecraft proved: water flows on Mars today
- Pebbles may indicate that water flowed on Mars in the past
- Water and sulfur and chlorine compounds have been discovered on Mars
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At the moment, even operations such as oxygen production on Mars, growing in a greenhouse on Mars (as in the new movie The Martian), nuclear propulsion in space or plasma propulsion in space with the masses of a space station - we are not told that they are being done, even on Earth.
The whole world is busy with wars, and the US is comfortable, because they don't have the money to do it and they still want to be first because then Mars belongs to them.
Sending a spacecraft to Mars in 25 years as announced by NASA is like saying I postpone until further notice.
There are basic technologies for the journey, you just have to connect them, which is not easy.
If they lack money and Obama believes that these are all actions that consume resources then you can be creative and raise money outside.
Technologies that will be developed for the journey will belong to the investors. Alternatively, you can raise through bonds, something else.