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Mars water discovery shows Red Planet could once have been blue

Posted on: Wednesday, 3 March 2004, 06:00 CST

THEY have not found life on Mars but NASA's scientists have made a massive stride in proving the Red Planet could once have supported it.

Liquid water created a habitable environment, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.

The discovery was made by Opportunity, one of NASA's two Martian rovers, which landed on the Red Planet in January.

A study of a fine, layered rock by the rover detected evidence of sulphates and other minerals that form in the presence of water.

It suggests that if there had been life present when the rocks were formed, the living conditions could have permitted an organism to flourish.

However, the results showed no direct evidence of living organisms.

Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for space science, said: "Opportunity has landed in an area of Mars where liquid water once drenched the surface. Moreover, this area would have been good, habitable environment."

He said the results represented "a giant leap" towards establishing whether there had ever been life on Mars.

James Garvin, another NASA scientist, said: "NASA launched the Mars Exploration Rover mission specifically to check whether at least one part of Mars had a persistently wet environment that could possibly have been hospitable to life. Today we have strong evidence for an exciting answer: Yes."

Steve Squyres, the lead investigator for science instruments on Opportunity, said they had been focused on analysing an outcrop of rock. He said the rover's study of formations near its landing site show that liquid water once flowed there, changing the chemistry and composition of the rocks.

He said: "We've been able to read the tell-tale clues the water left behind, giving us confidence in that conclusion.

"The ground would have been suitable for life. That doesn't mean life was there. We don't know that."

Additional studies will determine if the rocks were laid by minerals formed at the bottom of a salty lake or sea.

Opportunity, which touched down on 25 January, landed in a small crater near the Martian equator, at a place known as Meridiani Planum.

The rover conducted a chemical analysis of the outcrop, including a rock named El Capitan by scientists after the peak in Yosemite National Park in California.

They found a concentration of sulphur rich in magnesium, iron and other sulphate salts. Opportunity's instrument also detected jarosite, an iron sulphate mineral. On Earth, such minerals would have formed in water and the presence of jarosite suggests an acid- rich lake or hot-springs environment, scientists said.

Benton Clark, a member of the rover team, said Opportunity had found "an astounding amount of salt". He said this was found not only on the surface but was confirmed when the rover bored into a rock outcrop with its abrasion tool. He said: "The only way you can form such large concentrations of salt is dissolve it in water and allow the water to evaporate."

The announcement comes just over a month after NASA questioned the significance of a water discovery made by the European Space Agency (ESA).

Mars Express, ESA's orbiter, spotted frozen water at the Martian south pole, confirming for the first time what scientists have long believed but had previously not measured directly.

However, NASA said its orbiter gave a strong indication three years ago that there was water-ice on the southern pole.

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