Νέα - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

[Ιωάννης Γογωνάς]

Διάβασα χθες,πως τα μηνύματα που έφτασαν απο τον δορυφόρο της NASA Mars Observer Reconnainssance Orbiter ήταν πολύ καλά τις τελευταίες μέρες.

Ο δορυφόρος αυτός μας έδωσε περισσότερες πληροφορίες σε σχέση με το παρελθόν του πλανήτη Άρη.Συγκεκριμένα ο δορυφόρος αποκάλυψε πως ο Αρης είχε υγρό νερό 1 δισ. χρόνια περισσότερο απο τις μέχρι προηγούμενες εκτιμήσεις.Αυτό βρέθηκε μέσω της ανακάλυψης κάποιων παλιών επιφανειακών απορροών του πλανήτη.

Οι ελπίδες πως ο Άρης είχε ζωή στο παρελθόν μεγαλώνουν ...

Ας περιμένουμε όμως τις εξελίξεις.

 

Σχετικά το άρθρο που διάβασα γράφει:

 

 

NASA Orbiter Reveals Details of a Wetter Mars WASHINGTON -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has observed a new category of minerals spread across large regions of Mars. This discovery suggests that liquid water remained on the planet's surface a billion years later than scientists believed, and it played an important role in shaping the planet's surface and possibly hosting life.

 

Researchers examining data from the orbiter's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars have found evidence of hydrated silica, commonly known as opal. The hydrated, or water-containing, mineral deposits are telltale signs of where and when water was present on ancient Mars.

 

"This is an exciting discovery because it extends the time range for liquid water on Mars, and the places where it might have supported life," said Scott Murchie, the spectrometer's principal investigator at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. "The identification of opaline silica tells us that water may have existed as recently as 2 billion years ago."

 

Until now, only two major groups of hydrated minerals, phyllosilicates and hydrated sulfates, had been observed by spacecraft orbiting Mars. Clay-like phyllosilicates formed more than 3.5 billion years ago where igneous rock came into long-term contact with water. During the next several hundred million years, until approximately 3 billion years ago, hydrated sulfates formed from the evaporation of salty and sometimes acidic water.