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UCL in the News: Broken wheel reveals water on Mars
23 May 2007
A broken wheel on a space vehicle has helped uncover strong evidence that water did flow on Mars, which could prove that there was life on the planet.
Analysis of soil uncovered when a wheel jammed on Spirit, one of Nasa's two Rover buggies, has revealed that it contains 90 per cent silica - a concentration only likely to have formed when water is present. …
If it can be proved that Mars had water within the last few millions of years then it would make the discovery of either past or current life more likely. …
Prof Jan-Peter Muller [UCL Space & Climate Physics] said: "Evidence on the surface shows there is no question water flowed, but the real questions are how recently did it flow and did it hang around long enough to actually sit around on the surface.
"If water has been around in the last few million years then the possibility that there might be some kind of organisms that we would call life are greater." …
Nic Fleming, 'The Daily Telegraph'
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