There is great excitement in the world these days over the confirmation of water on Mars, but exactly what does it mean for us?
The reason that the discovery of water on Mars is important is that it could herald life. While it is not certain that the proposed human exploration to Mars in the near future will just pull up next to a nice lake of water which, even if it is saltwater, will be able to be turned into fresh drinking water, the find is nevertheless great.
Right now the scientists studying the reports are not sure at all just where the water is coming from, or even whether the planet is capable of sustaining life, but the confirmation of water on Mars is a step in the right direction.
One of the setbacks of actually discovering more about the source of the water on Mars is the fact that it is difficult to find a spacecraft that is sanitary enough to make the trip without possible contamination from hitchhiking Earth microbes.
Scientists have however confirmed that the enigmatic streaks of water that appear on the planet’s slopes in the summertime are definitely produced by liquid water and are possibly capable of sustaining chemical reactions and even life.
What is unclear is exactly where this trickle of water actually comes from; it is posited that it could originate from some type of underground aquifer, or perhaps a buried icefield that thaws in the summer, hence the water sliding downhill. It is known that there is ice buried beneath the Martian surface, so the latter is a real possibility.
So, while we do not know exactly what the source of water on Mars is, and whether it is salty or fresh, whether it can sustain life or not, the discovery is very exciting because it could mean that a long-time dream of a colony on Mars may not be that far off at all.
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