MARS EXPLORATION

The announcements are always misleading.

"NASA Confirms evidence that liquid water flows on today's Mars"

Do people ever read the articles. 

Lets go through this and see if the Headline is correct.

"New findings from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars."

"And now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld

“This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water -- albeit briny -- is flowing today on the surface of Mars.” said John Grunsfeld

These downhill flows, known as recurring slope lineae (RSL), often have been described as possibly related to liquid water. The new findings of hydrated salts on the slopes point to what that relationship may be to these dark features. The hydrated salts would lower the freezing point of a liquid brine, just as salt on roads here on Earth causes ice and snow to melt more rapidly. Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow, with enough water wicking to the surface to explain the darkening.

"We found the hydrated salts only when the seasonal features were widest, which suggests that either the dark streaks themselves or a process that forms them is the source of the hydration. In either case, the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes means that water plays a vital role in the formation of these streaks," said Lujendra Ojha


 

So hydrated salts are the reason they think water flows on Mars. How did they test the salt?

They didn't. They are basing this on images from the MRO's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE).

Ojha and his co-authors interpret the spectral signatures as caused by hydrated minerals called perchlorates. The hydrated salts most consistent with the chemical signatures are likely a mixture of magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate and sodium perchlorate.

And some scientists believe that the Viking missions in the 1970s measured signatures of these salts.

"The ability of MRO to observe for multiple Mars years with a payload able to see the fine detail of these features has enabled findings such as these: first identifying the puzzling seasonal streaks and now making a big step towards explaining what they are," said Rich Zurek

 "And now we know there is liquid water on the surface of this cold, desert planet,” said Michael Meyer. 

So to review.

Terms like Strongest evidence yet, convincing science, appears to, possibly, may be, is likely, which suggests, we believe, big step towards is considered proof. All from an image of  some black streaks which are said to be hydrated salts.

Well its was enough for Michael Meyer who was the only one who knows.

DEVON ISLAND

If you have 6 minutes to spare below is a good video to watch.

Its from the University of Stavanger called "lets go to Mars Together" and explains what is being done at Devon Island.

They even point out "the similarity of  Devon Island compared to Mars" (3:10 in the video).

So please go ahead and contact the "The Mars institute" ( 1 , 2 ,)  by clicking here and ask what they are really doing out there. (4:03 in the video).

I have.