Did water once roll down the hills and valleys of Mars? That's what the latest set of NASA photos have Mars experts wonder, as scientists sort through more evidence that our planetary neighbor once had oceans of water.
NASA unveiled a set of 13 photos of the surface of Mars that showed unique marks that scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology believe could be evidence that water once flowed on alien planet. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, an unmanned probe circling above the Red Planet, took the photos of strange surface markings.
These marks, called recurring slope lineae, or RSL, are possibly the product of iron deposits left from water flows. While these scientists are quick to say these photos aren't direct evidence of water on Mars, they also say they aren't able to explain the RSL marks in any way other than by waterflow.
"We still don't have a smoking gun for existence of water in RSL, although we're not sure how this process would take place without water," said Lujendra Ojha, the lead author of the report on the RSL marks and a Georgia Tech graduate student.
Though there are many signs that back up some scientists belief that water once flowed on Mars like it does on Earth; there is still no definitive proof, despite other evidence collected that also suggests Mars once had water. Finding water on Mars would strengthen speculation over whether life once existed on Mars, according to NASA.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recently snapped other scars on the surface of Mars. Last week, NASA released photos of a power crater impact on Mars. The impact was believed to have occurred between 2010 and 2012 and was powerful enough to scatter debris nearly ten miles from the crater site, according to the University of Arizona.
Since Mars doesn't have the same atmospheric protections that burns up asteroids in Earth's atmosphere, astronomers believe that the surface of Mars takes 200 or more strikes each year from rocks larger than 12 feet in diameter, according to CNET.
One day humans may travel to Mars, but when they do, they'll need to bring some water and watch out for flying space rocks.
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