NASA Discovers Evidence for Liquid Water on Mars

(eerie music)

[Narrator] Scientists have found

evidence of liquid water on Mars.

See the dark brown streaks running

down the slopes of the red planet's Hale crater?

They're salty tracks, like tear stains

that confirm there is indeed water on Mars,

and that it is flowing.

Scientists have long known there is ice on Mars,

but these stains are mineralogical evidence

that water dribbles down the planet's steep slopes.

Using data collected by NASA's

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter,

scientists have been following

these salty tracks which ebb and flow

during cooler and warmer temperatures.

They haven't actually seen any water,

but the mineral traces show evidence

of water molecules mixed into their crystal structures.

We don't know where exactly the water comes from.

It might come out of Mars' atmosphere

or it could be melting and percolating

out of the planet's frozen surface

or even bubbling up from an aquifer.

Whatever the reason, it's evidence

that Mars could support life.

Possibly even human life

if we figure out how to colonize the place.