Researchers at the American space agency have found new signs of life after the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit became stuck in wet ground on the red planet.
Astronomers are excited by the latest discovery which they claim proves that water, important for the existance of life has formed on Mars, more recently than first imagined.
The theory was that water formed more than a billion years ago, but the latest discovery is the first indication that liquid formed in the last few hundred thousand years. Nasa's latest study, reported in the Journal of Geophysical Research states that the liquid was likely to have formed from melting snow ice which trickled into the subsurface and dissolved.
“On Earth … hydrothermal systems provide the environmental conditions, water, nutrients and energy sources needed to sustain robust microbial communities, it seems likely the region (on Mars) … may have likewise supported a habitable environment.” said the Nasa team, who are based at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
The Mars explorer became stuck in April of last year when the left wheels broke through the surface and fell into the soft sand below.
KitGuru says: Liquid water and life always have went hand in hand.
We are not alone ive been saying it for years !