One of the most important components for the search for life on Mars is water. Water has been one of the key ingredients on how life was formed. Many scientists say that where there is water, then life could not be far off there. However, there is a new study that says Mars has been dry for millions of years, as meteorites on it show.
The evidence that Mars has been dry is the lack of rust on the meteorites on Mars' surface. This has been the finding of a group of researchers from the University of Stirling. This lack of rust indicates that there isn't enough moisture to form it on the meteorites.
Dr. Christian Schroder is a lecturer for Environmental Science and Planetary Exploration at the University of Stirling. He has also been a Team Collaborator for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity mission. He said that three billion years ago, Mars could have been habitable and has water. Now though it is very dry, and for life to exist it has to dig deep into Mars if it would try to find water.
Data from the Opportunity rover mission has been used in order to analyze the meteorites. These meteorites could be found at Meridiani Planum, according to Phys Org. This area is just south of Mars' equator.
The team analyzed and calculated how much time it took for the meteorites to weather on Mars. Since the meteorites are exposed, there would be a fair amount of weathering visible on them. The team has concluded that it would take ten to 10,000 times longer for the meteorites to weather on Mars. Dr. Schroder and his team speculate that this is far slower than it would on even the driest deserts on Earth, as Science Daily reports.
This finding might be interesting, as earlier there is speculation that life could exist on Mars in a depression on the Hellas Basin. It is still not certain whether life could be found on Mars, as Mars has been dry for millions of years, meteorites show. More exploration will have to be done to have a definite answer on whether there is life on Mars.
