vincent Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Water Flowed Recently on Mars, NASA Scientists SaySmall gullies on Mars were carved by water recently and would be prime locations to look for life, NASA scientists said today. There have been many studies of Martian gullies that concluded water was involved. But most of the features are ancient, or if they seemed modern then there were questions about how the water could stay liquid long enough to do the carving. Scientists know there is a lot of water ice on Mars, locked up at the poles and beneath the surface elsewhere. Water is a key ingredient for life as we know it, and other scientists have speculated that life on Mars, if there is any, could lurk just beneath the surface where ice melts in pockets. A closer look The new study suggests water may still bubble to the surface of Mars now and then, flow for a short stretch, then boil away in the thin, cold air. The conclusion is based on computer modeling of the atmosphere and how water would behave. "The gullies may be sites of near-surface water on present-day Mars and should be considered as prime astrobiological target sites for future exploration," said Jennifer Heldmann, the lead researcher from NASA's Ames Research Center. "The gully sites may also be of prime importance for human exploration of Mars because they may represent locations of relatively near surface liquid water, which can be accessed by crews drilling on the red planet." Any potential long-term human presence on Mars would require a water source, both for drinking and to be broken down into hydrogen as fuel for return flights. The claim that water carved the gullies is based on the shape and size of features spotted by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. Short gullies "If liquid water pops out onto Mars' surface, it can create short gullies about 550-yards (500-meters) long," Heldmann said in a statement. "We find that the short length of the gully features implies they did form under conditions similar to those on present-day Mars, with simultaneous freezing and rapid evaporation of nearly pure liquid water." Some of the gullies taper off into very small debris fields or leave no debris at all. That implies the water rapidly froze or evaporated. Given the low air pressure on Mars, water would boil in a flash, the researchers say, so it is doubtful that ice accumulates in the gullies. The findings will be presented next month at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences in Cambridge, England. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesleyT Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 nice finding, i cant wait till ppl get on mars :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore Max Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Yeah, I'm moving to Mars ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecotrojan Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 You mean they found this :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mando Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 You mean they found this :D 586428897[/snapback] LMFAO :woot: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kst Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 You mean they found this :D lmao... :rofl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted August 25, 2005 Author Share Posted August 25, 2005 :rolleyes: man i can't wait for summer to be over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoXY Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 nice finding, i cant wait till ppl get on mars :laugh: 586428822[/snapback] so the whole doom thing can get it on...:laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted August 25, 2005 Author Share Posted August 25, 2005 Please i know that humor is healthy, i have my share of it too on neowin (although it has declined quite a bit) but man i swear, it bugs me when i try to post a topic involving mature discussion, some kiddos come in and start posting crap. If you wanna post jokes go tto that section please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Veteran Posted August 25, 2005 Veteran Share Posted August 25, 2005 man i can't wait for summer to be over. 586430298[/snapback] See now that was the funniest post in the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skase Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 i have my share of it too on neowin (although it has declined quite a bit) 586430334[/snapback] HAHA HILARIOUS! :rofl: but could you please confine comments like these to the jokes and funny stuff section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouldy Punk Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Water is a key ingredient for life as we know it, Exactly, life as we know it. I hate how these smart NASA people just assume that little green men like water too, haven't they ever seen Signs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Veteran Posted August 29, 2005 Veteran Share Posted August 29, 2005 Exactly, life as we know it. I hate how these smart NASA people just assume that little green men like water too, haven't they ever seen Signs? 586448256[/snapback] Alright...allow me to explain. First and formost Signs was a movie and a very poor one at that. Lets not drag M. Knight "The one trick pony" into a real scientific discussion. For godsake the man isn't even that good at writing fiction, what bearing could he have on fact? Secondly, all those smart people know what they are doing, looking for life similiar to that on Earth is the best place to start. Without any other template to look at we should probably focus on what we already understand to be life. How exactly can we focus our search for a form of life that we do not know whether or not it can even exist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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