Mars - Is there water for life?

-  2123  - Mars.  Today the Mars atmosphere is much too thin for water to survive on the surface for long.  The water ice must exist just below the surface.  When it comes to learning about Mars we are just scratching the surface.  Literally.

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----------------------------------  2123  - Mars  -  Is there water for life?

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-  There are currently (2018) satellites orbiting the planet Mars, or,  on its surface making measurements, taking pictures.  HiWish is the web site to see many of  these pictures the explorers are taking..  They are truly amazing.

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-  The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter  has more than 52,000 high-resolution orbital images.  These amazing photos achieve resolutions down to 10 inches per pixel.  That resolution can measure objects as small as 30 inches.

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-  Besides a camera MRO has a Thermal Mission Imaging system that photographs the Mars surface in five visible light wavelengths and ten infrared wavelengths.  Areas that appear bright in the infrared at night are warm and typically rocky or bedrock.  Regions that appear dark are cold and tend to be areas covered in dust.

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-  The most interesting thing for geologists is to find evidence of water.  Water can be solid ice, liquid, or gas vapor.  Water can be sequestered in rocks and soil and exist below the surface.

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-  Water can be incorporated into the crystal structure of minerals.  These crystals are called hydrates.     For example, when gypsum , CaSO2-2H2O, loses its structural water content it forms a calcium sulfate, CaSO4.

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-  The Opportunity Rover has found mineral assemblages that indicate the existence of long lived hydrothermal environments.  On Earth these same environments are perfect homes for microbial life.

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-  The Curiosity Rover discovered mineral evidence in craters that hosted a series of lakes and streams 3.8 billion to 3.3 billion years ago.

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-  The Viking Orbiters used ground penetrating radar to reveal buried water ice.  Each finding was water  ice having the volume of Lake Superior.

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-  Repeat imaging of gullies revealed new flows of material within gully channels.  These landslides are attributed to a small amount of liquid ground water release causing gullies to form.

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-  The conclusions surmised so far is that Mars evolved from a world of rain and rivers to a dusty land of ice and frost.  The more we look for water , the more we find.  Anywhere there is water on Earth there is life.  Perhaps Mars discoveries will find microbial life locked away below the shrouds of red dust. 

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-  Today the Mars atmosphere is much too thin for water to survive on the surface for long.  The water ice must exist just below the surface.  When it comes to learning about Mars we are just scratching the surface.  Literally.

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-  October 17, 2018.      

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 ---------------------   October 17, 2018           -------------------------

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