Science > Physics > Liquid Water flowed in the last seven years -- on Mars
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Science > Physics |
| User: |
"Sam Wormley" |
| Date: |
06 Dec 2006 12:06:43 PM |
| Object: |
Liquid Water flowed in the last seven years -- on Mars |
Liquid Water flowed in the last seven years -- on Mars
Watch press conference in progress now
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
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| User: "Jan Panteltje" |
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| Title: Re: Liquid Water flowed in the last seven years -- on Mars |
06 Dec 2006 01:00:58 PM |
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On a sunny day (Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:06:43 GMT) it happened Sam Wormley
<swormley1@mchsi.com> wrote in <TEDdh.305990$1i1.194472@attbi_s72>:
Liquid Water flowed in the last seven years -- on Mars
Watch press conference in progress now
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
mmm this is much better evidence, and in true color:
ftp://panteltje.com/pub/mars/lake2color.jpg
ftp://panteltje.com/pub/mars/lake-on-mars-ob_22_reull_v2-detail-gamma.jpg
Our little friend showing the vegetables up close:
ftp://panteltje.com/pub/mars/easthills-bunny.jpg
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| User: "Sam Wormley" |
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| Title: Re: Liquid Water flowed in the last seven years -- on Mars |
06 Dec 2006 01:21:54 PM |
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Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:06:43 GMT) it happened Sam Wormley
<swormley1@mchsi.com> wrote in <TEDdh.305990$1i1.194472@attbi_s72>:
Liquid Water flowed in the last seven years -- on Mars
Watch press conference in progress now
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
mmm this is much better evidence, and in true color:
ftp://panteltje.com/pub/mars/lake2color.jpg
ftp://panteltje.com/pub/mars/lake-on-mars-ob_22_reull_v2-detail-gamma.jpg
Our little friend showing the vegetables up close:
ftp://panteltje.com/pub/mars/easthills-bunny.jpg
Better: ftp://panteltje.com/pub/no-pic.gif
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| User: "Sam Wormley" |
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| Title: Re: Liquid Water flowed in the last seven years -- on Mars |
06 Dec 2006 12:12:02 PM |
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Sam Wormley wrote:
Liquid Water flowed in the last seven years -- on Mars
Watch press conference in progress now
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Evidence
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/main/index.html
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| User: "Sam Wormley" |
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| Title: Re: Liquid Water flowed in the last seven years -- on Mars |
06 Dec 2006 02:50:54 PM |
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Sam Wormley wrote:
Sam Wormley wrote:
Liquid Water flowed in the last seven years -- on Mars
Watch press conference in progress now
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Evidence
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/main/index.html
Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
News Release: 2006-145 Dec. 6, 2006
NASA Images Suggest Water Still Flows in Brief Spurts on Mars
WASHINGTON - NASA photographs have revealed bright new deposits seen in
two gullies on Mars that suggest water carried sediment through them
sometime during the past seven years.
"These observations give the strongest evidence to date that water
still flows occasionally on the surface of Mars," said Dr. Michael
Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, Washington.
Liquid water, as opposed to the water ice and water vapor known to
exist at Mars, is considered necessary for life. The new findings
heighten intrigue about the potential for microbial life on Mars. The
Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor provided the new
evidence. The deposits appear in images it took in 2004 and 2005 but
not in a 1999 image of one site or a 2001 image of the other site.
"The shapes of these deposits are what you would expect to see if the
material were carried by flowing water," said Dr. Michael Malin of
Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. "They have finger-like branches
at the downhill end and are easily diverted around small obstacles."
Malin is principal investigator for the camera and lead author of a
report about the findings published in the journal Science.
The atmosphere of Mars is so thin and the temperature so cold that
liquid water cannot persist at the surface. It would rapidly evaporate
or freeze. Researchers propose that water could remain liquid long
enough, after breaking out from an underground source, to carry debris
downslope before totally freezing. The two fresh deposits are each
several hundred meters, or yards, long.
The light tone of the deposits could be from surface frost continuously
replenished by ice within the body of the deposit. Another possibility
is a salty crust, which would be a sign of water's effects in
concentrating the salts. If the deposits had resulted from dry dust
slipping down the slope, they would likely be dark, based on the dark
tones of dust freshly disturbed by rover tracks, dust devils and fresh
craters on Mars.
Mars Global Surveyor has discovered tens of thousands of gullies on
slopes inside craters and other depressions on Mars. Most gullies are
at latitudes of 30 degrees or higher. Malin and his team first reported
the discovery of the gullies in 2000. To look for changes that might
indicate present-day flow of water, his camera team repeatedly imaged
hundreds of the sites. One pair of images showed a gully that appeared
after mid-2002. That site was on a sand dune, and the gully-cutting
process was interpreted as a dry flow of sand.
Today's announcement is the first to reveal newly deposited
material apparently carried by fluids after earlier imaging of the same
gullies. The two sites are inside craters in the Terra Sirenum and the
Centauri Montes regions of southern Mars.
"These fresh deposits suggest that at some places and times on
present-day Mars, liquid water is emerging from beneath the ground and
briefly flowing down the slopes. This possibility raises questions
about how the water would stay melted below ground, how widespread it
might be, and whether there's a below-ground wet habitat conducive to
life. Future missions may provide the answers," said Malin.
Besides looking for changes in gullies, the orbiter's camera team
assessed the rate at which new impact craters appear. The camera
photographed approximately 98 percent of Mars in 1999 and approximately
30 percent of the planet was photographed again in 2006. The newer
images show 20 fresh impact craters, ranging in diameter from 2 meters
(7 feet) to 148 meters (486 feet) that were not present approximately
seven years earlier. These results have important implications for
determining the ages of features on the surface of Mars. These results
also approximately match predictions and imply that Martian terrain
with few craters is truly young.
Mars Global Surveyor began orbiting Mars in 1997. The spacecraft is
responsible for many important discoveries. NASA has not heard from the
spacecraft since early November. Attempts to contact it continue. Its
unprecedented longevity has allowed monitoring Mars for over several
years past its projected lifetime.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, manages the Mars Global
Surveyor mission for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
-end-
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