What could have formed these unusual channels? Inside a small crater [ http://www.jpl.nasa…] that lies inside large Newton Crater [ http://ic.arc.nasa.…] on Mars [ http://www.seds.org…], numerous narrow channels run from the top down to the crater floor. The above picture [ http://www.msss.com…] covers a region spanning about 3000 meters across. These and other gullies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] have been found on Mars in recent high-resolution pictures [ http://www.msss.com…] taken by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor [ http://mars.jpl.nas…] robot spacecraft. Similar channels on Earth [ http://www.msss.com…] are formed by flowing water, but on Mars the temperature is normally too cold and the atmosphere [ http://windows.ivv.…] too thin to sustain liquid water [ http://www.es.mq.ed…]. Nevertheless, many scientists now hypothesize that liquid water did burst out here from underground Mars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], eroded the gullies, and pooled at the bottom as it froze and evaporated. If so, life-sustaining ice and water [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] might exist even today below the Martian surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] -- water that could potentially support a human mission to Mars [ http://www-sn.jsc.n…]. Research into this exciting possibility [ http://www.sciencem…] is sure to continue!
Explanation
What could have formed these unusual channels? Inside a small crater [ http://www.jpl.nasa…] that lies inside large Newton Crater [ http://ic.arc.nasa.…] on Mars [ http://www.seds.org…], numerous narrow channels run from the top down to the crater floor. The above picture [ http://www.msss.com…] covers a region spanning about 3000 meters across. These and other gullies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] have been found on Mars in recent high-resolution pictures [ http://www.msss.com…] taken by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor [ http://mars.jpl.nas…] robot spacecraft. Similar channels on Earth [ http://www.msss.com…] are formed by flowing water, but on Mars the temperature is normally too cold and the atmosphere [ http://windows.ivv.…] too thin to sustain liquid water [ http://www.es.mq.ed…]. Nevertheless, many scientists now hypothesize that liquid water did burst out here from underground Mars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], eroded the gullies, and pooled at the bottom as it froze and evaporated. If so, life-sustaining ice and water [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] might exist even today below the Martian surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] -- water that could potentially support a human mission to Mars [ http://www-sn.jsc.n…]. Research into this exciting possibility [ http://www.sciencem…] is sure to continue!
