The discovery of flowing salt water on Mars is groundbreaking and creates conditions for people to be able to travel to Mars and stay there for a longer period of time than was previously predicted, the Slovak Organisation for Space Activities (SOSA) director Jakub Kapuš told TASR on Tuesday, adding that this discovery proves that Mars isn't just a dry and arid planet. "We can now see the bigger picture of Mars' history and the evolution of our solar system, how it was created and how it functions", said Kapuš. He says there's a need for further research at the exact location of these water reservoirs to discover under what conditions the water appears and how it's capable of remaining on the surface. The data was delivered from the space probe Orbiter, which has been orbiting Mars since 2006.
"The discovery of running water might signify a big advantage for piloted missions to Mars, because to deliver cargo to this planet is very strenuous financially and technically", remarked the director. Mars, which can be reached in less than a year, is a natural target as it's considered to be the next site of possible life, according to Kapuš.
Jozef Masarik, Dean of Comenius University's Mathematics, Physics and Informatics Faculty, told TASR that he considers this discovery, in terms of research into the solar system objects, to be the most significant this century. "It has brought something new into Mars' research as in the past there were assumptions that water may be found only in a frozen state and under the surface", explained Masarik. Scientists from NASA have announced that it's likely there isn't only frozen water on Mars, but running streams of salt water as well, at least during summer. These recent observations strongly reinvigorated the old theory that salt water flows over some Martian slopes in the summer, according to NASA. Salt lowers the point at which the water freezes, that's why there's flowing water on Mars during summer, according to scientists. The next research initiative target will be to find if there's any chance for a microscopic form of life to exist on Mars.
