News coverage of potential present day habitats of life on Mars

This is a page of snippets from some of the major discoveries regarding present day Mars habitability that have hit the mainstream news, or at least, the mainstream science news. I will add links to the relevant parts of this encyclopedia to the stories to find out more.

The idea for this page is to show how the mainstream media have covered these stories. Also will include the press release videos.

[WORK IN PROGRESS]

2009: March 24 Briny pools 'may exist on Mars' - BBC News

The probe had surpassed its expected lifetime by more than two months

Researchers previously thought water existed largely as ice or as vapour on Mars, because of the low temperatures and atmospheric pressure.

But Nasa's Phoenix lander has shown the presence in Martian soil of perchlorate salts, which can keep water liquid at temperatures of minus 70C.

Pockets of brine might form when soil interacted with ice.

It also covers the first observations of the possible droplets on the legs of Phoenix as reported by Nilton Renno. To find out more:

• The Phoenix lander's 2008 Mars observations of droplets on its legs and evidence of atmospheric exchange with liquid water

===2014: July 8

Liquid Water from Ice and Salt on Mars - NASA Astrobiology magazine

'Is there life on Mars?': Water can and does exist on the planet says new research - Independent

Two scenarios were tested at different temperatures, one that saw just salt placed on a temperature controlled plate created to simulate the Mars surface, and one where salty soil was placed directly on ice.

In the first test no liquid formed.

In the second experiment, researchers found that placing salty soil directly on three millimetres of ice led to water droplets forming when the chamber reached -73C – the same conditions experienced during the Phoenix’s Mars landing.

'For me, the most exciting thing is that I can now understand how the droplets formed on the Phoenix leg,' said Dr Nilton Renno.

The study could also prove to scientists that Mars is able to sustain water across its surface during the summer and spring months, and could even be the first steps to finding out whether life could and does exist on the planet.

Dr Renno said: “even just a tiny droplet of water is enough for bacteria to grab hold of and survive.”

2015: Sept 18 Nasa scientists find evidence of flowing water on Mars - Guardian

Researchers say discovery of stains from summertime flows down cliffs and crater walls increases chance of finding life on red planet

Liquid water runs down canyons and crater walls over the summer months on Mars, according to researchers who say the discovery raises the chances of being home to some form of life.

The trickles leave long, dark stains on the Martian terrain that can reach hundreds of metres downhill in the warmer months, before they dry up in the autumn as surface temperatures drop.

Images taken from the Mars orbit show cliffs, and the steep walls of valleys and craters, streaked with summertime flows that in the most active spots combine to form intricate fan-like patterns.

Scientists are unsure where the water comes from, but it may rise up from underground ice or salty aquifers, or condense out of the thin Martian atmosphere.

“There is liquid water today on the surface of Mars,” Michael Meyer, the lead scientist on Nasa’s Mars exploration programme, told the Guardian. “Because of this, we suspect that it is at least possible to have a habitable environment today.”

2015: Sept 30 Water on Mars: Nasa faces contamination dilemma over future investigations

Nasa scientists may still be celebrating their discovery of liquid water on Mars, but they now face some serious questions about how they can investigate further and look for signs of life on the red planet.

The problem is how to find life without contaminating the planet with bugs from Earth.

Researchers at the space agency are keen for the Curiosity rover to take a closer look at the long dark streaks created by liquid water running down craters and canyon walls during the summer months on Mars.

But the rover is not sterile and risks contaminating the wet areas with earthly bugs that will have hitched a ride to the planet and may still be alive.

The vehicle has been trundling around the large Gale crater looking for evidence that Mars was habitable in the ancient past. It has so far uncovered evidence of past river networks and age-old lakes.

However, the dark, damp streaks, called recurring slope lineae (RSL), are a different prospect. Because they are wet at least part of the time, they will be designated as special regions where only sterile landers can visit. But such a restriction could hamper scientists’ hopes of looking for current life on Mars....

“There will be heated discussions in the next weeks and months about what Curiosity will be allowed to do and whether it can go anywhere near the RSLs,” said Andrew Coates of University College London’s Mullard space science laboratory.

2018: July 25 Liquid water 'lake' revealed on Mars - BBC News

the blue spots show the location of the possible lake as detected by the Marsis radar on Mars polar Expreses

What they believe to be a lake sits under the planet's south polar ice cap, and is about 20km (12 miles) across.

Previous research found possible signs of intermittent liquid water flowing on the martian surface, but this is the first sign of a persistent body of water on the planet in the present day....

The result is exciting because scientists have long searched for signs of present-day liquid water on Mars, but these have come up empty or yielded ambiguous findings. It will also interest those studying the possibilities for life beyond Earth - though it does not yet raise the stakes in the search for biology.

Massive lake of water found beneath Mars’ south pole could host life - New Scientist

Jeffery Plaut at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in California, Pasadena, cautions that the find seems promising, but will need to be confirmed with further study. The radar images could also be explained by particular arrangements of carbon dioxide ice or very pure water ice, he says.

“If the result is confirmed, it would be the largest known occurrence of present-day liquid water on Mars,” says Plaut. “It clearly has implications for the history of climate and the possibility of habitats suitable for life.”

See also

• Possible present day habitats for life on Mars