Science writer Leonard David is concerned. It seems like Mars Rover Curiosity is having some unusual wear on it wheels… erosion and corrosion that seems to be caused by liquid water in the form of dew:
Led by F. Javier Martín-Torres of the Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra in Granada, Spain, the group analyzed the relative humidity, air temperature and ground temperature data from the Curiosity rover at Gale crater.
They report the observations support the formation of night-time transient liquid brines in the uppermost 5 centimeters of the subsurface that then evaporate after sunrise. There is an active exchange of water at the atmosphere/soil interface.
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The team explains that the water activity and temperature are probably too low to support terrestrial organisms.
While liquid water has now been found, it is not likely that life will be found on Mars. The Red Planet it is too dry, too cold and the cosmic radiation is so powerful that it penetrates at least one meter into the surface and kills all life…at least life as we know it on Earth, adds team member, Morten Bo Madsen, associate professor and head of the Mars Group at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen in an Institute press statement.
Perchlorates are widespread on the surface of Mars, the research team explains, “and we expect that liquid brines are abundant beyond equatorial regions where atmospheric humidity is higher and temperatures are lower.”
[via vruba]