First evidence of flowing water on Mars
05 Aug 2011
Washington: US space agency NASA said Thursday it had found the first evidence of flowing water on Mars. If confirmed, the evidence would be the first discovery of active liquid water in the ground on the Red Planet.
The evidence has been gathered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
"We have found repeated and predictable evidence suggesting water flowing on Mars," Michael Meyer, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration program, told reporters.
The US space agency said the orbiter, circling Mars since 2006, had recorded "thousands" of such flows over the past three years at seven locations. It had identified 20 other possible sites of similar flows.
The water flows occur during the Martian spring and summer.
Time-sequence imagery of the Newton crater in the southern mid-latitude region showed finger-like markings spreading along several steep slopes and then fading with the onset of colder temperatures.