SPACE.com has learned that NASA has discovered evidence of water on the Red Planets surface. The finding, made by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, fuels hopes that there may be life on Mars.
Sources close to the agencies Mars program said the discovery involves evidence of seasonal deposits that could be associated with springs on the planets surface.
NASA plans to make the blockbuster announcement during a press conference scheduled for June 29, sources said.
The discovery, if confirmed, would mark the achievement of a primary goal in NASAs program to explore Mars.
Key to all three themes is water: Where and when it may have flowed in the past, where it might lurk today and in which forms and what quantities.
NASA scientists on the Mars Global Surveyor team declined to comment, pending the press conference and subsequent publication in the journal Science of a paper on the discovery.
Ed Weiler, NASA associate administrator for space science, told the National Academy of Sciences Space Studies Board on June 14 that the Mars program needs a clear-cut vision. The real reason to go is to find out if life is there or not, he said.
"To meet that long-term mission requires that you follow the water. Without water there is not life there was not life," Weiler said. "By following the water, it all fits together. So for the first time, we have a really good, clear,long-term vision for Mars."
Water most likely flowed inthe distant past on Mars, carving channels and other features clearly visible on its surface. But other than in the form of clouds and ice, liquid water cannot exist on the planets surface today, thanks to the thinness of its atmosphere.
Scientists have hypothesized that vast stores of water could still persist beneath the surface of Mars. (Read more ...)
