Two possibilities come to mind, well, three: Mars is difficult to explore because of the distance and apparent foolish mistakes made by people trying to hit it. The first to hit Mars (other than Laz) was NASA, which failed to get its probe into Martian orbit back in the 1960s. The first to attempt it was the USSR when Khruschev was still in charge (i.e., a long time ago). The Soviets and now the Russians have the worst record in Mars probing.
The second possibility is, Mars doesn't have much water, which IMV is the correct conclusion.
The third one which came to mind as I began this is, Mars' slightly lower density than that of Earth (Mars has the lowest density of the known "rocky" planets, as opposed to the four gas giants; not enough is known about Pluto, which IMV remains among the planets) may be do to having been made up of lots of water ice.
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So, where did the water on Mars come from?
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· 03/07/2004 2:21:58 AM PST ·
· Posted by LibWhacker ·
· 95 replies ·
· The Toronto Star ·
· 3/7/04 ·
· Terence Dickinson · |
The Mars rover Opportunity's examination of Martian rocks last week provided the first convincing evidence that our neighbour world was once "awash" in water, as one NASA scientist described it. But where did the water come from? And why does Mars have no liquid water now, while Earth apparently has been covered with the stuff for 4 billion years? Scientists are just beginning to piece the story together, and it goes right back to the beginning. Mars, like Earth, was formed from dusty and rocky debris left over after the sun was born 4.57 billion years ago. Initially, there were... |
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