Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Weird Dark Streaks on Mars May Not Be Flowing Water After All
Space.com ^ | | November 20, 2017 05:24pm | Calla Cofield,

Posted on 11/20/2017 6:57:07 PM PST by BenLurkin

In 2015, observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed trace amounts of water (mixed with heavy doses of salts) on the Red Planet's surface. These "hydrated salts" corresponded with dark streaks on Martian hillsides called recurring slope lineae (RSL), which researchers had already identified as possible sites of liquid water rising to the surface.

Studies of RSL, and in particular the findings by the MRO, introduced the tantalizing possibility that there could be enough liquid water on the surface of Mars today to support microbial life

But the new study shows that those dark RSL could simply be flows of sand and other granular material, according to a statement from NASA. In addition, the authors provide more reasons why the liquid water explanation does not fit with certain features of RSL. 

"We've thought of RSL as possible liquid water flows, but the slopes are more like what we expect for dry sand," Colin Dundas, a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology Science Center and a lead author on the new study, said in the statement.

"This new understanding of RSL supports other evidence that shows that Mars today is very dry."

However, neither study can fully explain all the features of the Martian RSL, and the authors of the new paper admit the mystery may not be solved until a rover or a human expedition can explore those regions directly.

(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: cultofmars; mars; xplanets
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-28 next last

1 posted on 11/20/2017 6:57:07 PM PST by BenLurkin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Canals!! (or canalli)


2 posted on 11/20/2017 7:00:29 PM PST by C210N (It is easier to fool the people than convince them that they have been fooled)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Dang skid marks.


3 posted on 11/20/2017 7:00:31 PM PST by sparklite2 (-)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Bah, it’s a conspiracy... to deny infrastructure loans to Helium to improve its canals.


4 posted on 11/20/2017 7:02:41 PM PST by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat/RINO Party!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: C210N

5 posted on 11/20/2017 7:03:46 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin
Unicorn scrapes...for all you hunters out there....
6 posted on 11/20/2017 7:04:58 PM PST by M-cubed
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Features likely caused by Electricity flowing plasma

https://youtu.be/tRV1e5_tB6Y


7 posted on 11/20/2017 7:08:02 PM PST by seastay
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: C210N
Cannoli on Mars?? I had no idea there were even Italians up there.

Image result for cannoli

:)

8 posted on 11/20/2017 7:08:44 PM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Nukes. See my FR page)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

The Martians were also fools, who ignored the signs of Cosmic Warming.


9 posted on 11/20/2017 7:08:51 PM PST by Attention Surplus Disorder
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Needed paleontologist with hammer and hand lens.


10 posted on 11/20/2017 7:08:59 PM PST by onedoug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

That’s what they’d like you to believe...


11 posted on 11/20/2017 7:10:26 PM PST by Ken H (Best election ever!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ETL
I love cannoli, but I can't help seeing occluded arteries when I look at that picture.
12 posted on 11/20/2017 7:11:48 PM PST by neverevergiveup
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: sparklite2

But we’re talking about Mars, not Uranus.


13 posted on 11/20/2017 7:15:45 PM PST by EvilCapitalist (Lock her up!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: neverevergiveup

"We need to head back to earth immediately. Leave the lasers, take the cannoli"

Image result for mars
14 posted on 11/20/2017 7:16:38 PM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Nukes. See my FR page)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: EvilCapitalist

True. The skid marks on Mars are not my fault.


15 posted on 11/20/2017 7:18:35 PM PST by sparklite2 (-)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: EvilCapitalist

Lol! Very good!

(dark streaks...uranus)


16 posted on 11/20/2017 7:18:38 PM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Nukes. See my FR page)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: C210N
For a time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was erroneously believed that there were canals on Mars. These were a network of long straight lines in the equatorial regions from 60° N. to 60° S. Lat. on the planet Mars observed by astronomers using early low-resolution telescopes without photography.

They were first described by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli during the opposition of 1877, and confirmed by later observers.

Schiaparelli called these canali, which was translated into English as "canals".

The Irish astronomer Charles E. Burton made some of the earliest drawings of straight-line features on Mars, although his drawings did not match Schiaparelli's.

By the early 20th century, improved astronomical observations revealed the "canals" to be an optical illusion, and modern high resolution mapping of the Martian surface by spacecraft shows no such features.--Wikipedia

File:Karte Mars Schiaparelli MKL1888.png
1877 map of Mars by Giovanni Schiaparelli.

17 posted on 11/20/2017 7:25:04 PM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Nukes. See my FR page)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ETL

18 posted on 11/20/2017 7:25:14 PM PST by DoodleBob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: sparklite2

http://bitsandpieces.us/2001/01/skid-b-gone-brake-pads


19 posted on 11/20/2017 7:28:43 PM PST by digger48
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: sparklite2

Sorry. crap link


20 posted on 11/20/2017 7:31:47 PM PST by digger48
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-28 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson