Mars Global Surveyor - Discovery of Water On Mars

Discovery of Water On Mars

On 6 December 2006 NASA released photos of two craters called Terra Sirenum and Centauri Montes which appear to show the presence of water on Mars at some point between 1999 and 2001. The pictures were produced by the Mars Global Surveyor and are quite possibly the spacecraft's final contribution to our knowledge of Mars and the question of whether life or water exists on the planet.

Hundreds of gullies were discovered that were formed from liquid water, possible in recent times. These gullies occur on steep slopes and mostly in certain bands of latitude.

A few channels on Mars displayed inner channels that suggest sustained fluid flows. The most well-known is the one in Nanedi Valles. Another was found in Nirgal Vallis.

Read more about this topic:  Mars Global Surveyor

Famous quotes containing the words discovery of, discovery, water and/or mars:

    Next to the striking of fire and the discovery of the wheel, the greatest triumph of what we call civilization was the domestication of the human male.
    Max Lerner (b. 1902)

    Next to the striking of fire and the discovery of the wheel, the greatest triumph of what we call civilization was the domestication of the human male.
    Max Lerner (b. 1902)

    What a dissimilarity we see in walking, swimming, and flying. And yet it is one and the same motion: it is just that the load- bearing capacity of the earth differs from that of the water, and that that of the water differs from that of the air! Thus we should also learn to fly as thinkers—and not imagine that we are thereby becoming idle dreamers!
    Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)

    What makes the United States government, on the whole, more tolerable—I mean for us lucky white men—is the fact that there is so much less of government with us.... But in Canada you are reminded of the government every day. It parades itself before you. It is not content to be the servant, but will be the master; and every day it goes out to the Plains of Abraham or to the Champs de Mars and exhibits itself and toots.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)