Exploration of Mars Curiosity revives hope of finding water – La Prensa (Nicaragua) (Subscription)

Curiosity. PRESS / NASA

The exploration of Mars by Curiosity rover NASA revived hopes that there is water near the surface of Mars, revealed Monday responsible scientific space mission.

The evidence consists of the presence of perchlorate calcium in the Martian soil, specified the astrophysicists.

That kind of highly absorbent salt makes lower the freezing point of water allowing it to remain in a liquid state, according to the study published in the journal Nature.

“When night falls, part of the water vapor in the atmosphere condenses on the Martian surface like frost, “said co-author Morten Bo Madsen Niels Bohr’s Institute, University of Copenhagen.

” However, calcium perchlorate is very absorbent and when combined with water lowers its freezing and frost may again become liquid. ” “The soil is porous, and what we’re seeing is that water can seep down”.

The Curiosity also sent closeups of his tour of the area of ​​Mount Sharp apparently showing sediments deposited in a remote past by some watercourse.

If confirmed, the crater at the foot of Mount Sharp may have been a lake.

Last month, NASA indicated that almost half the northern hemisphere of Mars was at one time an ocean, reaching higher than 1600 meters deep.

However, 87% of liquid capable of promoting the emergence of life was lost in space.

One theory is that Mars lost its magnetic field that protected its surface bombardment by high-energy particles sent by the sun.

In the absence of that shield, the protons simply destroyed the atmosphere shortly by little, according to this hypothesis.

Although the presence of water near the Martian surface is discovered, the conditions are so harsh that life would be impossible, according to researchers.

” is too dry, too cold and cosmic radiation is so powerful that it penetrates at least one meter below the surface and kills all life, at least in the way we know it on Earth, “said University.

The Martian explorer Curiosity, NASA costing 2,500 million, landed on the red planet in August 2012 with the aim of exploring the terrain and look for signs that allow to find out if there was life on Mars.