Flowing Water Found On Mars, Says NASA

NASA has found strong evidence that there is flowing water on Mars, increasing the chances that the planet could support life.

The news increases the likelihood of alien life on Mars and also makes it more likely that the red planet could support a human colony in future.

Features on the surface of the planet that change with the seasons are almost certainly caused by flowing water, says NASA.

The gully-like features, known as recurring slope linae (RSL), were previously thought to have been caused by water, but evidence to support the theory had proved elusive until now.

New evidence collected by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found that the RSL are covered in salts.

These salts enable the briny water to flow by altering both its freezing temperature and vaporisation rate.

The American space agency first hinted that it had something big to announce when it put out a cryptic statement last week entitled ‘NASA To Announce Mars Mystery Solved.

Details were scarce, with NASA merely stating that it would “detail a major science finding from the agency’s ongoing exploration of Mars”.

Naturally, the news spread across social media instantly…

The new findings were published in the journal Nature Geoscience.