Water on Mars

Water+on+Mars

By Audry Hong

Well, not quite the water that you can find in sinks and water bottles. The kind of water found on Mars is described as “briny” full of perchlorates (salt) that makes it toxic to humans. Scientists weren’t sure that life could survive in such salty conditions, but it was later concluded that if there was life, it would be very similar to the organisms found in the Dead Sea. This is because the Dead Sea is considered to be one of the saltiest in the world. While it is old news that there is ice on mars, this is the first discovery of “flowing” water. While the water does not quite flow like out water might from the tap, it instead “seeps” and wets the martian soil. Nevertheless, the water is in liquid form, which is quite different than than the solid ice that we had discovered before.

Our information will only come from pictures that the Curiosity rover is taking, rather than directing the rover to the water and taking samples This decision of inaction derives from a Planetary Protection policy, where scientists sterilize their spacecrafts so that earth microbes cannot travel and contaminate the places they are being sent. Although the Curiosity rover has been sterilized, it was not considered clean enough to be sent to such a delicate place where life could exist. We don’t want to “discover” new life on another planet only to discover the newly discovered organisms found were only hitchhikers from Earth.

What does this discovery mean for us?

A professor at the University of Michigan, who was one of the first to theorize the presence of liquid water on mars in the form of brine, can smugly say “I told you so” to everyone who called him crazy.

Many people are hoping that this discovery will spark the general public’s interest in space exploration once again, which can eventually lead to more funding towards NASA

Chelsea Ortega, a sophomore, is excited to start introducing possible life forms on Mars with human luxuries stating “Motorcycles on mars. Make it happen.” Trevor Brooks , a sophomore, speaks on more thoughtful ideas, wondering “how close we are to colonizing mars and making it like another continent”. Buzz Aldrin speaks on a similar wavelength as Trevor, writing in his article for Times that “the treatment and processing of that water…all adds up to the ability of humans to live off the land: Marsland”