Seasonal Dark Streaks on Mars

[GodlessBiker]

What is causing these dark streaks on Mars? A leading hypothesis is flowing -- but quickly evaporating -- water. The streaks, visible in dark brown near the image center, appear in the Martian spring and summer but fade in the winter months, only to reappear again the next summer. These are not the first markings on Mars that have been interpreted as showing the effects of running water, but they are the first to add the clue of a seasonal dependence. The above picture, taken in May, digitally combines several images from the the HiRISE instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The image is color-enhanced and depicts a slope inside Newton crater in a mid-southern region of Mars. The streaks bolster evidence that water exists just below the Martian surface in several locations, and therefore fuels speculation that Mars might harbor some sort of water-dependent life. Future observations with robotic spacecraft orbiting Mars, such as MRO, Mars Express, and Mars Odyssey will continue to monitor the situation and possibly confirm -- or refute -- the exciting flowing water hypothesis.



http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110808.html

------------------

What if water-dependent life is found near sites of water flow on Mars? If it is, I think we should give up any idea of putting people on or colonizing the planet, and we should let that life develop on its own without interference. We can focus on asteroids or something like that.

[daleanime]

1. Actually the opposite....

it would be another reasons to go!:bounce:

[GodlessBiker]

2. As a species, we don't have a very good track record of going into a pristine place ...

and leaving things undisturbed. Worse, we usually exploit what find to our benefit and its detriment.

There should be a UN resolution which states that no human will land on any extraterrestrial body on which life has been found, and we should leave if we have already landed when life is found.

[daleanime]

3. We do need to learn to do better....

but more then that, we need to learn; and that means going, doing, and seeing. It's unfortunate that we haven't found any proof yet, but even simple single cell lifeforms would be worth the trip.


Plus how much the experience of being on Mars would teach us about managing our own home. O8)

[bananas]

4. You have it backwards - life on Mars is not "developing", it's dying

Mars used to have deep oceans and a thick atmosphere and most likely plants and very possibly animals.
There's not much left, and over time conditions will just get worse.
There's also speculation that life started on Mars first and later spread to the Earth, that we are all martians.
It may be possible to restore martian life, first by small greenhouses, later by increasing greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.