The first hard evidence that water once flowed on Mars has been found. The Nasa rover Opportunity landed on a plane next to a stony outcrop that had been altered by liquid water, scientists announced last night.
The discovery confirms years of indirect, tantalising and sometimes furiously disputed evidence gleaned from satellite sensors. It clinches the picture of Mars as a once watery planet with a denser atmosphere. And once again it raises the possibility that the Red Planet might once have been home to life.
The British Beagle 2 has been silent since its arrival on Christmas Day. Two US rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, landed in January. Opportunity landed on a plain called Meridiani: selected because it seemed to be rich in a mineral called haematite. On Earth, haematite is linked to water.
”Nasa launched the Mars exploration rover mission specifically to check whether at least one part of Mars ever had a persistently wet environment that could possibly have been hospitable to life,” said James Garvin, lead scientist for Mars exploration at Nasa headquarters. ”Today we have strong evidence for an exciting answer: yes.”
European scientists launched the Rosetta spacecraft on a 10-year, 6,8bn-kilometre journey to study a comet on Tuesday. It is the first mission to a comet and could answer questions about the origins of life. – Guardian Unlimited Â