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http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20110804/nasa-images-show-possible-water-on-mars-110804/
Images of Martian crater show signs of flowing water
An image taken by the High Revolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on Mars' Reconnaissance Orbiter may show evidence of salty liquid active on the planet. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona)An image taken by the High Revolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on Mars' Reconnaissance Orbiter may show evidence of salty liquid active on the planet. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona)Mars
An image taken by the High Revolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on Mars' Reconnaissance Orbiter may show evidence of salty liquid active on the planet. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona)
An image taken by the High Revolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on Mars' Reconnaissance Orbiter may show evidence of salty liquid active on the planet. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona)
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CTV News.ca Staff
Date: Thursday Aug. 4, 2011 7:46 PM ET
A series of images that show darkening lines stretching across a crater on Mars suggest that water still flows on the mysterious planet, according to NASA researchers.
The images were taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter over the course of about one Mars year – the equivalent of nearly 700 Earth days.
"NASA's Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form, and it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration," NASA administrator Charles Bolden said in a press release Thursday.
The lines grow more defined and lengthen during the warm seasons, then fade again in winter. Because temperatures on Mars are extremely low by Earth's standards, scientists believe the water could contain high levels of salt -- otherwise, it would be more prone to freezing.
"The best explanation for these observations so far is the flow of briny water," said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson.
McEwen is the lead investigator working on the images, as part of the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment.
He still has one big mystery to crack: Why do the lines darken? McEwen told NASA it's not from the Martian landscape getting wet.
One theory is that the briny water rearranges grains on the ground, just as brushing your hand on a carpet might darken or lighten the surface. Another theory suggests the water somehow changes the ground's roughness.
"It's a mystery now, but I think it's a solvable mystery with further observations and laboratory experiments," McEwen said.
