Proven to Have Water on Mars

High-resolution photos of the newly discovered Jezero Crater, recorded during the Perseverance mission of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, have been published.

Scientists analyzed images taken on Mars. The images provide many clues as to how water played a role in shaping the structure of Mars billions of years ago, and evidence of ancient life.

Perseverance will illuminate the history of Mars

The Perseverance mission to find out if life exists on Mars will take decades and cost billions of dollars to develop. Equipped with 19 cameras, a two-metre (seven-feet) robotic arm, two microphones and an array of cutting-edge instruments, this Perseverance rover will clear many questions about the structure of Mars.

High-resolution photos of Jezero Crater, discovered in February, once thought to feed a lake, have been analyzed by scientists. According to the study published in the journal Science, the layers inside the rocks in the photos give many clues about how the formation took place. According to the research, the uppermost and newest layers contain rocks around one meter in diameter that were probably scattered there by a violent flood.

Proven that there is water on Mars

NASA astrobiologist Amy Williams and her team have found similarities between the features of the cliffs seen at the crater floor and the structure of river deltas on Earth. The study revealed that the bottom three layers showed a presence and continuous flow of water in ancient times. This analysis shows that about 3.7 billion years ago, Mars was “hot and humid enough to support a hydrological cycle.”

Williams said in a press release that they had previously predicted that water should form the delta from the orbital images, and that a clearer conclusion was reached with the photographs. He also stated that learning that Mars may once have harbored life would be one of the most “deep” discoveries ever made by humanity.