Friday, February 16, 2007

Water on Mars?

Just thinking about how many planets there are out there, I always thought that there must be at least one other planet out there which can support life. Now it seems that our nearest neighbour Mars is it!

Scientists have long debated whether water flowed on the red planet. Evidence have been increasing in recent years but now an orbiting spacecraft has sent back even more evidence for the presence of it on Mars. The NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show alternating layers of dark and light-toned rock in a giant rift valley. According to researchers from the University of Arizona those rocks indicate areas where fluids, probably water, passed through the bedrock. The researchers also said that layered outcrops can indicate cycles with materials deposited by regular episodes of water, wind or volcanic activity.

Just last December images from the Mars Global Surveyor showed changes in craters that provide the strongest evidence yet that water moved through them as recently as several years ago.

Personally, I don't see why scientists are so hung up on water. Yes, water is important for life...ON EARTH. If a planet do not have water, life could still find a way to live. Even if Mars has water, that still doesn't prove anything. The only way is to send someone to the red planet and come back with evidence of life. I wish NASA would spend less money on taking pictures and more on sending people into space. If they don't, I hope the Chinese will.

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