The NASA Mars rover, Opportunity, has found evidence that life may have been able to exist on Mars, according to Space.com. The discovery of clay minerals in an ancient rock on the rim of the Endeavor Crater suggests that neutral-pH, or benign, water once flowed through the area, according to scientists.
Water tracks can be found in areas where much of the ground remains frozen throughout the year. During the warmer weather, a little bit of the ground thaws, which generates melt water, thereby unlocking pore spaces in the soil. This water then collects in low spots on the ice table. A slope in the ice table will cause groundwater to run downslope, creating a water track.
On Mars, there is a feature that scientists call the recurring slope lineae (RSL) that looks like water tracks and appear to be seasonal as well, following all the same traits on water tracks on Earth.
"This is water you could drink," Steve Squyres, a principal investigator for the Opportunity, told reporters. "This is water that was probably much more favorable in its chemistry, in its pH, in its level of acidity, for things like prebiotic chemistry - the kind of chemistry that could lead to the origin of life."
This isn't the first time scientists have found evidence of water on Mars, as another rover, Spirit, found evidence of water in January 2004, though the water had indications of being very acidic.
This time, the crater, Esperance, shows strong evidence that ancient Mars was habitable for life.
"The fundamental conditions that we believe to be necessary for life were met here," Squyres said.
The water likely flowed through the crater during the first billion years of Martian history, according to Squyres. However, without bring the rocks from Mars to Earth, determining their ages is almost impossible. These observations may help scientists determine how Mars transitioned from a warm and wet planet to a cold and dry one.
"All the details need to be worked out, but the more we look, the more it fits into this kind of broad context," Ray Arvidson, a deputy principal investigator for the Opportunity, said.
NASA update on the work of the Opportunity rover.
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