NASA has found gullies on Mars and recent changes in the walls of existing craters, possible evidence of flowing water that could support life on future missions, according to a study published in the journal Science.
Images taken by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Mars Global Surveyor show the formation of light- toned deposits since 1999 and 2001 at two gully sites that are evidence of fluid flow, the researchers wrote. That fluid probably is water, they said.
“The possibility that liquid water may be coming to the surface of Mars today poses many questions,” said Michael Malin, co-author of the article. “Where is the water coming from? Can it be used as a resource in further Mars exploration? Finally, has it acted as an agent to promote or sustain a Martian biosphere?”
NASA is planning to send astronauts to the planet by 2020, it said Monday. Water on Mars could aid the trip, in that water molecules could be cracked into hydrogen and oxygen to be used as rocket fuel, the space agency said.
The Mars Global Surveyor, completing its ninth year in the planet’s orbit, has shown dark spots or craters on the surface over the past seven years, the study said. New craters have been formed by meteorites crashing into the planet.
The latest pictures, which show lighter-toned deposits on two of the craters, suggest that water may have flowed since 1999, said Malin, head of San Diego-based Malin Space Science Systems.
Dust, which the researchers deemed a possibility for the spots, has shown up lighter in the past, increasing the likelihood that water causes the lighter deposits, Malin said.
Lockheed Martin Space System engineers built the Mars Global Surveyor for NASA, in Jefferson County’s Waterton Canyon. NASA and Lockheed lost contact with the spacecraft last month, but the space probe had generated data for 10 years, much more than the two years that were planned.
