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EXPERIENCE > SCIENCE TOOLS > THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
Right now, as the eyes of humanity turn more and more to visiting other planets in our solar system, what’s the one thing we’re searching for most often?
Water, right? Just like here on Earth, space travelers need to have access to plenty of water or they won’t survive.
In September 2012, the high tech NASA robot known as Curiosity made an exciting discovery as it rolled over the rocky Martian landscape, “…evidence a stream once ran vigorously across the area on Mars where the rover is driving. There is earlier evidence for the presence of water on Mars, but this evidence — images of rocks containing ancient stream bed gravels — is the first of its kind…” (NASA mission news briefing, September 27, 2012).
Could it be that great oceans once covered Mars in the same way they cover Earth? Is it possible some of that water may still be hidden underground? And why does NASA care?
Well, you wouldn’t go on a hike into the desert without having access to water, so there’s no way humans can colonize other planets without it either. As NASA scientists continue to look at the possibility of establishing permanent settlements on other worlds (including Mars), they’ll need to solve the dilemma of how to provide humans with fresh water.
Photo credit: NASA
Right now, as the eyes of humanity turn more and more to visiting other planets in our solar system, what’s the one thing we’re searching for most often?
Water, right? Just like here on Earth, space travelers need to have access to plenty of water or they won’t survive.
In September 2012, the high tech NASA robot known as Curiosity made an exciting discovery as it rolled over the rocky Martian landscape, “…evidence a stream once ran vigorously across the area on Mars where the rover is driving. There is earlier evidence for the presence of water on Mars, but this evidence — images of rocks containing ancient stream bed gravels — is the first of its kind…” (NASA mission news briefing, September 27, 2012).
Could it be that great oceans once covered Mars in the same way they cover Earth? Is it possible some of that water may still be hidden underground? And why does NASA care?
Well, you wouldn’t go on a hike into the desert without having access to water, so there’s no way humans can colonize other planets without it either. As NASA scientists continue to look at the possibility of establishing permanent settlements on other worlds (including Mars), they’ll need to solve the dilemma of how to provide humans with fresh water.
Photo credit: NASA
