UT Geologist Says Mars Water Evidence is Important
Knoxville — A University of Tennessee geologist said NASA researchers will look more closely for signs of liquid water on Mars.
Dr. Harry McSween, who has worked on several NASA projects, said photographs from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft show evidence of fresh channels and gullies, possibly carved by liquid water.
“In December 1999 there was a science paper published that argued that a large part of the northern hemisphere of Mars was once covered with an ocean,” McSween said, “perhaps a billion years ago.”
“With this discovery, if it’s what I think it is,” McSween said, “it brings liquid water on Mars right up to the present day.”
NASA said if surface water really does exist on Mars, it would make it easier for astronauts to build livable colonies there.
Related Stories from Tennessee Today
- UT Geologist Helps Look For Signs of Water on Mars (February 20, 2002)
- Meteorite May Hold No Proof Of Water On Mars (July 9, 1996)
- Rock Hunting on Mars Not Easy, UT Geologist Says (290) (June 25, 1997)
- Search for Water on Mars Continues (February 6, 2004)
- UT Prof Says Discovery Points to Warmer, Wetter Mars (March 2, 2004)
- Mars Meteorite Shows Signs of Water (January 31, 2001)
- Mars Mission Needed, UT Scientist Tells Congress (September 25, 1996)
- Football Showcase Examines Life On Mars (170) (September 25, 1997)
