Posted on 11/20/2017 6:57:07 PM PST by BenLurkin
In 2015, observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed trace amounts of water (mixed with heavy doses of salts) on the Red Planet's surface. These "hydrated salts" corresponded with dark streaks on Martian hillsides called recurring slope lineae (RSL), which researchers had already identified as possible sites of liquid water rising to the surface.
Studies of RSL, and in particular the findings by the MRO, introduced the tantalizing possibility that there could be enough liquid water on the surface of Mars today to support microbial life
But the new study shows that those dark RSL could simply be flows of sand and other granular material, according to a statement from NASA. In addition, the authors provide more reasons why the liquid water explanation does not fit with certain features of RSL.
"We've thought of RSL as possible liquid water flows, but the slopes are more like what we expect for dry sand," Colin Dundas, a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology Science Center and a lead author on the new study, said in the statement.
"This new understanding of RSL supports other evidence that shows that Mars today is very dry."
However, neither study can fully explain all the features of the Martian RSL, and the authors of the new paper admit the mystery may not be solved until a rover or a human expedition can explore those regions directly.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Well, so much for my, ‘Lake Front Property’ scam on mars!
D@mmit! ;)
Take heart! If someone relocated the London Bridge to mid-Arizona, maybe they can fix you up, too.
LOL!
Elon Musk will be bummed by this!!!
Electric Universe bump.
Mars rovers see water-linked mineral (Geothite), frost and clouds
Monterey Herald ^ | 12/13/04 | AP - Pasadena
Posted on 12/13/2004 4:52:20 PM PST by NormsRevenge
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1300720/posts
Report: Mars Cold, Bitter Planet for a Long, Long Time
space.com | 07/21/05 | Robert Roy Britt
Posted on 07/21/2005 10:09:04 PM EDT by KevinDavis
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1448047/posts
Rovers Find Evidence Mars Was Once Hostile
AP on Yahoo | 12/5/05 | Alicia Chang - ap
Posted on 12/05/2005 8:59:30 PM EST by NormsRevenge
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1534629/posts
Studies Cast Doubt on Idea of Life on Mars
Yahoo (AP) | Thu Dec 22, 8:37 AM ET | ALICIA CHANG
Posted on 12/22/2005 1:46:33 PM EST by The_Victor
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1545513/posts
Thanks BenLurkin.
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Mars was 'always cold and frozen'The idea that Mars was once a warm place, awash with oceans that could harboured early life has taken a knock - new data suggests it was always cold, frozen and probably lifeless. A survey of the Red Planet's surface has revealed only traces of carbonates, minerals that should have formed in abundant quantities if Mars once had expansive seas. On Earth, the mineral is found in limestone and chalk deposits around the world. The data was collected by a thermal emission spectrometer (TES) on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and was analysed by researchers at Arizona State University in the US... "We found carbonate, but we've only trace amounts," said team leader Philip Christensen. "This really points to a cold, frozen, icy Mars that has probably always been that way. We believe that the relatively small amounts that we see probably did not come from oceans, but from the [carbon dioxide] atmosphere interacting directly with dust," he said... "We see so much erosion in canyons, and valleys and plains that have been stripped bare," he said. "It seems unlikely that the carbonate rocks could all be hiding out of view. When you look at the entire planet, you'd think that somewhere a little piece would be exposed."
by David Cohen
New Scientist
22 August 2003
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