NASA finds evidence of liquid water on Mars, boosting hopes of finding life beyond Earth

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NASA has confirmed that there is liquid water flowing on Mars, which is a potential breakthrough in the quest to search for life beyond Earth.

According to NASA scientists, liquid water runs down canyons and crater walls on Mars, leaving dark stains in the terrain. These stains, known as the recurring slope lineae — or RSL — occur when temperatures rise above -10 Fahrenheit. The stains disappear during the cold season.

Scientists discovered perchlorate salts, which is crucial in keeping water in liquid form by lowering the freezing point of water on Mars' surface by looking at infrared light waves reflected from the RSL. The result showed that the wavelengths are commonly associated with deliquescence, a process where salt absorbs water from the air, said Georgia Tech doctoral student Lujendra Ojha. Ojha first discovered the stains while still an undergraduate student at the University of Arizona in 2011.

This is not the first time water was discovered on Mars. Earlier in 2015, NASA released evidence that showed half of the northern hemisphere of the planet was once covered in an ocean, reported the Guardian.

It remains to be seen whether this discovery will prove that life exists on Mars. NASA researchers will now focus on where the water comes from, whether it be deliquescence, from melted frozen water during the summer, or caused by concentrated saline aquifers in the forms of saturated gritty rocks on the Mars' surface.
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