[ambrose]

The Mars Express captured this image, suggesting the existence of water-ice, from 273 kilometres above Mars. Picture: AFP

[farmfriend]

ping

[Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh]

Is there water in that picture or not? Who says channels are formed by water, as opposed to lava, hot gas, etc?

[marron]

The presence of water ice simplifies the establishment of a base. Once you get your water-treatment skid up and running you don't have to worry about hauling nearly so much from earth. That translates into smaller ships, or ships whose cargo capacity can be used for other tools and supplies.

[gnawbone]

If Mars used to have a bunch of water and it is now gone ... what happened? Were there a bunch of Republicans up there driving around in SUVs that caused this? Oh, the humanity .....

[adam_az]

"If life on Mars theory holds water, what does it mean?"

We will be subjected to another decades worth of bad headline puns

[ancient_geezer]

Abrose, taking a look on ESA's website and info on that picture it is not clear that that is nothing more a color rendition of depth from their 3D cameras, much like a colorcoded topomap. I doubt very much the greens and blues are from water or chlorophyll. Either would be assayable from spectrographic data available to the satellite instrumentation. That kind of result has not been claimed by ESU in any of their reports, and certainly would be news of the first magnitude if it were the case.

That particular picture is a computer reconstuction of height derived from their 3D cameras from an overhead view. The color may just range red, yellow, green, blue from high to low relative altitude, * luminosity of the original picture.

[ancient_geezer]

The ESA release from which the main article derives appears be this one, indicating the near surface atmosphere in the polar region as having the indications of water vapor;

http://www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM8ZB474OD_0.html

Mars Express sees its first water – scientific results
 
23 January 2004   ESA PR 06-2004. Mars Express, ESA’s first mission to Mars, will reach its final orbit on 28 January. It has already been producing stunning results since its first instrument was switched on, on 5 January. The significance of the first data was emphasised by the scientists at a European press conference today at ESA’s Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany.

And not Reull Vallis of your perspective view

[<1/1,000,000th%]

This can mean only one thing.