 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Research Demonstrates Potential For Liquid Water On Present-Day Mars
Fayetteville AK (SPX) May 25, 2009 Researchers at the University of Arkansas have shown that salts formed from perchlorates discovered at the Phoenix landing site have the potential to be found in liquid solution under the temperature and pressure conditions on present-day Mars. Research professor Vincent F. Chevrier and graduate students Jennifer Hanley and Travis S. Altheide report their findings in the current issue of Geophysical Research Letters. Their work provides the first demonstration of a potential stable liquid on present-day Mars in the immediate environment of the lander. "Under real, observed Martian conditions, you can have a stable liquid," said Chevrier. The researchers studied the properties of sodium and magnesium perchlorates, salts detected by the Phoenix lander, under the temperature, pressure and humidity conditions found at the landing site. The discovery of perchlorates on Mars by the Phoenix mission surprised scientists - the compounds are rare on Earth, found mostly in extremely arid environments such as the Atacama Desert in Chile. The scientists studied the properties of these salts at varying temperatures using the Andromeda Chamber in the W.M. Keck Laboratory for Space Simulation - a chamber that can imitate the pressure and atmospheric conditions found on Mars. They also performed thermodynamic calculations to determine the state of salt and water combinations on the Martian surface and to see if there was any potential for liquid to be found. The extreme temperatures found on Mars typically lead to either crystallization or evaporation of water, making it difficult to imagine that water could be found in liquid form. However, salts have been shown to lower the freezing point of water - which is why street crews use salt on the roads to melt ice, Hanley said. Some salts, like perchlorates, lower the freezing point substantially. It turns out that the temperature for the liquid phase of magnesium perchlorate - 206 degrees Kelvin - is a temperature found on Mars at the Phoenix landing site. Based on temperature findings from the Phoenix lander, conditions would allow this perchlorate solution to be present in liquid form for a few hours each day during the summer. "The window for liquid is very small," Hanley said. Nevertheless, this finding further supports the possibility of finding life on Mars. "You don't necessarily need to have a lot of water to have life," Chevrier said. "But you need liquid water at some point." The Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences is jointly sponsored by the J. William Fulbright College of Sciences and the College of Engineering. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Phoenix at LPL Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com Lunar Dreams and more
NASA pushed back shuttle landing to SundayCape Canaveral, Florida (AFP) May 23, 2009 NASA gave up on plans to land the space shuttle Atlantis here on Saturday with thick cloud cover at Cape Canaveral, and said it would try to bring the craft down to Earth on Sunday. It was the second consecutive day that NASA, faced with heavy clouding and crosswinds, decided to push back the Atlantis' landing. The crew has enough fuel to keep flying until Monday at the lastest. The US s ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook