Traces of liquid water found on Mars

Scientists have found evidence of liquid water on Mars. The new data was obtained as a result of the analysis of images transmitted by the automatic station Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Spectral analysis allowed scientists to detect hydrated (containing water molecules) salts - in all likelihood, magnesium chlorate, magnesium perchlorate and sodium perchlorate - in the craters and canyons of Mars. In the warm season, dark long stripes form on their slopes, similar to streams of water. In the cold season, the stripes disappear. According to scientists, these traces are left by water, the freezing point of which is lowered due to salts.

• To date, the presence of significant water reserves on Mars in the form of ice at the poles of the planet has been proven. The presence of liquid water, scientists call one of the key conditions for the existence of life.