Quote :

"Changing Mars Gullies Hint at Recent Flowing Water By Tariq Malik Staff Writer posted: 6 December 2006 1:00 p.m. ET This story was updated at 2:47 p.m. EST. The changing appearance of gullies on Mars over the last seven years suggests that liquid water flowed recently on the red planet and may still seep out in brief bursts, researchers said Wednesday. In what is billed as "the squirting gun," new images of known gullies on Mars show evidence of new flows and deposits, pointing to explosive events in which some form of water burst from crater walls and ran down their slopes. "We've had this story of ancient water on Mars," said researcher Kenneth Edgett, who participated in the Mars gully study, during a press briefing at NASA's Washington, D.C. headquarters. "Today we're talking about liquid water that is present on Mars right now." Edgett and colleagues used images from NASA's now silentMars Global Surveyor (MGS) to revisit regions earlier this year where gullies, depression-like landforms on the red planet's surface, were found in 2000. What they found were new, light-colored deposits that do not appear to have formed from landslides, but could be the work of frost, salt deposits or long-sought evidence that water flowed recently on Mars [images]. The research is detailed in this week's issue of the journal Science. "I think the evidence for liquid water is compelling," said Philip Christensen, a leading Mars researcher at Arizona State University who did not participate in Malin's study. "But I think certain questions still remain...but that's the natural flow of science." Those remaining questions, Christensen said, include determining the source of water at the gully sites, and making in-depth spectral analyses to confirm the photographic evidence of liquid water. Pinning down the source of any liquid water source, be it a subsurface aquifer, ice pack or melting snow, is key, he added. "The great news is that NASA has the tools to do that," said Christensen, who also serves as the principal investigator for the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) aboard NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter currently circling Mars. "I think we're really positioned to go forward with a view of Mars as a dynamic, active place." Gully science Researchers have known of gullies on the Mars since 2000, when the MGS spacecraft's Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)—built by Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California—first observed the eye-catching landforms. Found mostly on slopes or ridges, the gullies sparked long-running debates on whether they formed from groundwater seeping out of the martian surface or in dry landslides. "Our level of certainty which we can address the question of whether the gully features that we're reporting on were formed by water is high, but not extremely high," the study's leader Michael Malin, chief scientist at Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California, told SPACE.com. "The evidence is mostly suggestive," he said. Malin's team also used the MOC instrument in their new study, which compared base images of two mid-latitude regions in Mars' southern hemisphere taken in 1999 and 2001 to more recent images captured in the years since. In an area known as Terra Sirenum, new light-toned deposits coating gullies in April 2005 were not present in December 2001. Similar changes were seen in a crater etched into the Centauri Montes region of Mars, which apparently changed sometime between August 1999 and February 2004. "I think this is pretty interesting evidence that says yes there's is subsurface water," Christensen said, adding that aquifers, snow packs and ground ice are all plausible sources for liquid martian water. "It remains to see which ones are most plausible." Malin and his team believe that some form of water, be it briny, acidic or slushy, may be bursting out from underground sources at the gullies and leaving the tell-tale signs. The result, Malin added, could resemble the sort of mudflows seen on Earth after torrential rains or flash floods. Edgett said early estimates call for somewhere between five and 10 swimming pools' worth of water to have formed the gully changes seen on Mars. "And if you were there, and this thing was coming down the slope, you'd kind of want to get out of the way," Edgett said, adding that Mars' thin atmosphere would force the water to boil off as it flowed out. A watery trail That liquid water once existed on Mars in some form has been known conclusively since 2004, when NASA's Opportunity rover found evidence that it permeated rocks in the planet's ancient past. Mars scientists have long associated the search for liquid water on red planet with the possibility of life, since the two are closely linked here on Earth. The existence of subsurface liquid water on Mars could also serve as a potential supply source for future red planet explorers. But determining conclusively that the gully changes seen by MGS stem from liquid water is daunting, and will likely require an up-close visit—a challenge due to the risk of contaminating a gully site with Earth microbes or other material. "Personally, I think you're going to have to go to one [and see]," Malin said, adding that the contaminate hurdle is daunting. "It's something that will not be trivially easy to go to, but something there's a lot of interest in." Christensen said that NASA's proposed Astrobiology Field Laboratory would be a good candidate as a robotic gully visitor, because it would not only be sterilized but also capable of traversing rough terrain. Edgett told SPACE.com that the gully changes seen by MGS may be the first of many to be found by Mars-watching orbiters. "More of these could happen if we just watch," Edgett said."

http://space.com/scienceastronomy/061206_mars_gullies.html

12/6/2006 4:40:00 PM

i want to be the first person to drink mars water.

12/6/2006 5:03:19 PM

Let's build a swimming pool.

12/6/2006 5:18:50 PM

save the whales!

12/6/2006 5:34:06 PM

I can't wait to pollute it.

12/6/2006 6:05:17 PM

get some mcdonalds cups in that shit

12/6/2006 6:11:44 PM

i'm going to go ahead and privatize it. but then again, mars is the RED planet, stupid commies.

12/7/2006 9:00:29 AM

i want ot be the first to pee in it. so you better beat me there Smath74!

12/7/2006 11:18:41 AM

isn't there some docment that says that planets are property of whoever claims it or something? i know there is a company who sells plot on the moon. i'ma go ahead and claim a few mars acres and put up some nice town homes and a parking deck.

12/7/2006 1:07:14 PM

this is cool, think of all the microbes that could be inhabiting this

12/7/2006 1:11:46 PM

^^ The Outer Space Treaty prohibits nations from laying claim to planets; it declares outer space and all the bodies in it to be the common heritage of all mankind. It doesn't say anything about private ownership, but aside from a few "buy plots on the moon" scam artists, it hasn't become an issue yet because we don't have a lot of people settling there.

I think it would be incredibly fascinating if we could, say, send some biologists along to look for signs of life around these features, or search for signs of extinct life, or start building a permanent base there, taking advantage of local water and atmosphere resources. But no, it's more important that we put some more footprints on the dry, airless, sterile Moon.

12/7/2006 2:17:31 PM

As I understand it planets are going to be treated like antartica, although there has been no need for it yet.

12/7/2006 2:20:51 PM

i bet they find oil on mars, then it will be on!

12/7/2006 3:02:52 PM

bttt

12/8/2006 2:25:31 AM

Alien urine? It's also a cocktail, but I've never had one.

Blue Curacao
Club Soda
3/4 oz. Midori
3/4 oz. Peach Schnapps
3/4 oz. Creme de Banana
3/4 oz. Malibu Coconut Rum
Sweet & Sour mix

Hand shake or blend with ice the liquer with the sour. Strain the drink from the ice into a pounder glass. Float Blue Curacao before serving.

12/8/2006 2:36:05 AM

I heard that 75 metric tons of pure diamond and the cure to all earthly ailments were hidden beneath this water.

12/8/2006 2:43:36 AM

Quote :

"I think it would be incredibly fascinating if we could, say, send some biologists along to look for signs of life around these features, or search for signs of extinct life, or start building a permanent base there, taking advantage of local water and atmosphere resources. But no, it's more important that we put some more footprints on the dry, airless, sterile Moon."

Are you fucking kidding? Don't you think we have enough of our own problems here?

12/8/2006 7:03:29 AM

Tonight:

NASA urges people to get outside as Mars won't be this close again for 269 years
https://www.mlive.com/news/us-world/index.ssf/2018/07/nasa_urges_people_to_get_outsi.html

https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2018/07/30/go-outside-and-see-mars/

Quote :

"NASA is urging people to get outside and look to the sky Tuesday night, July 31 as Mars won't be this close to our planet again for the next 269 years which is 2287 for those counting. The Red Planet will come within 35.8 million miles from Earth, which might not seem like a "close approach," but it will represent the closest approach since 2003's mark of 34.6 million miles. The 2003 close approach was the closest Mars had been to Earth in about 60,000 years, according to the U.S. space agency. "

Cloudy skies? Or want a closer look? Then see it here live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsqiRUp40Is

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As for the thread subject, this is from a few days ago:

Liquid water 'lake' revealed on Mars
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44952710

Quote :

"Researchers have found evidence of an existing body of liquid water on Mars. What they believe to be a lake sits under the planet's south polar ice cap, and is about 20km (12 miles) across. Previous research found possible signs of intermittent liquid water flowing on the martian surface, but this is the first sign of a persistent body of water on the planet in the present day."

8/1/2018 8:37:04 PM

So much Blind Hate ITT.

8/2/2018 9:05:49 AM