Liquid Salty Water Discovered On The Surface Of Mars: Sparking Hope For Discovery Of Life One Day

NASA had earlier revealed that they had a huge announcement to make on Monday, and folks who tuned in had an interesting revelation to digest.

Images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has shown that liquid, salty water can be found on the surface of the planet. It has been known for a while that Mars had some water at its poles; in its atmosphere, and below its surface.

This new discovery, scientists think, is possible because of the presence of some salts in the water. They lower the freezing point of water, raise the evaporation rate, and easily absorb moisture from the atmosphere.

They include magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate and sodium perchlorate.

NASA researchers using an imager aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter confirmed the watery flows by looking at light waves returned from seasonal dark streaks on the surface, long suspected to be associated with liquid water.

This has sparked hope of perhaps a discovery of life on the planet one day. Nothing like we’ve evolved to be, but probably microbial life. Water is one of the most basic building blocks of life as we currently know it, after all.

Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA, said the discovery announced Monday puts NASA in a perfect position to look for some form of life.

“We haven’t been able to answer the question, ‘Does life exist beyond Earth?’ ” Green said.

“But following the water is a critical element of that. We now have, I think, a great opportunity to be in the right locations on Mars to thoroughly investigate that.”

For the science of the discovery, visit IFLS.