The history of water on Mars is becoming increasingly clear as scientists explore the Red Planet’s past, and now data from the Curiosity rover has provided another key piece of information that shows evidence the planet has a daily water cycle, somewhat similar to the cycle on Earth. In the first major development since water was first discovered on the red planet, a scientific team used data from the rover about Martian weather and soil conditions to deduce that perchlorate salts found in the planet’s soil can pull water out of its scant atmosphere and have the potential to fuel a daily water cycle. The evidence is fairly indirect, but it is consistent with other data from a Russian apparatus that measures water molecules in soil. What does this all mean? The more similar the behavior of water on Mars is to water on Earth further bolsters the case that microbial life could be present on the planet.
Via ars technica
Image via NASA