NASA discovers possible signs of running water on Mars

vThe ‘Red Planet’ has long been thought of as being void of running water; until recently that is. NASA’s spacecraft orbiting Mars has again returned clues that suggest the presence of running water on the Planet. The evidence is provided by visual finger-shaped markings along the slopes of Mars that only appear during warmer weather, but disappear in the cold.
The markings are seen as a huge breakthrough in the mystery surrounding the presence of water on Mars. It was often thought that water may have existed millions of years ago, but the recent discovery seeks to quell that rumour. Scientists refer to the markings as “recurring slope lineae” (RSL) and it is often the source of much discussion whenever Mars scientists get together to share their findings.
At a recent meeting, Lujendra Ojha had this to say about the RSL; he said, “We still don’t have a smoking gun for existence of water in RSL, although we’re not sure how this process would take place without water.” Ojha is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, and the author of two reports concerning the flows. The markings were originally discovered by Ojha and his team some three years ago via images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Ojha’s original findings were great, but the recent ones give more evidence to support the theory. It is believed that any water found on Mars would be near the surface and extremely salty — not ideal for use by man. The tests do continue and their is greater hope of a breakthrough, given the evidence at hand. As Ojha and his team continue to test other possibilities and examine the data before them, I cannot help but wonder about what we would do if water were indeed found. How would it change life for us here? NASA.