NASA科學家 火星表面有液態水

　　US satellite observations have produced the first strong evidence for water flowing on Mars.

　　The water is a brine saturated in salts such as perchlorates. As it seeps down the slopes of Martian craters and mountains, it leaves narrow streaks less than five metres wide, which appear and lengthen during the warm season and fade during the Martian winter.

　　Although the salty liquid would not be drinkable by visiting astronauts in its present form, the presence of any water strengthens the idea that Mars may harbour microscopic lifeforms.

　　“Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld, Nasa’s head of science. “This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water, albeit briny, is flowing today on the surface of Mars.”

　　Nasa scientists announced their “major science finding” at a news conference in Washington and in a scientific paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

　　美國衛星觀察找到了火星外面存在液態水的首批強有力證據。

　　這類水是含有飽和鹽類(如高氯酸鹽)的鹹水。跟著鹹水滲透火星隕石坑和山丘的斜坡，它留下了不到5米寬的狹小條紋，這些條紋在暖和季候浮現並延伸，而在火星冬日時漸漸消逝。

　　固然這類鹹水以今朝形態沒法被到訪火星的宇航員飲用，但任何情勢水的存在都邑增強火星大概存在渺小性命形態的假想。

　　“咱們在火星上的摸索一向在‘循著水’探求宇宙中的性命，而如今咱們有了使人佩服的科學證據來證明咱們所歷久疑惑的，”美國宇航局(NASA)科學部分主管約翰格隆菲爾德(John Grunsfeld)說，“這是一項龐大發明，由於它仿佛證明了現在有水(只管是鹹的)在火星外面流淌。”

　　NASA科學家在華盛頓的一場消息宣布會和揭櫫在《天然地球科學》(Nature Geoscience)期刊上的科學論文中宣告了他們的“龐大科學發明”。