spacetoday.net: Mars water results published

Posted: Fri, Dec 3, 2004, 7:13 AM ET (1213 GMT)
Mars Exploration Rover (NASA/JPL)

Scientists working on NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers mission have published a series of papers in the journal Science that confirm earlier findings that liquid water once existed in the landing site of the rover Opportunity. Eleven papers, published in Friday's issue of the journal Science, present the results from the 90-day prime mission of the rover Opportunity. The papers confirm that the Meridiani Planum region of Mars, where Opportunity landed, had liquid water "intermittently" in the planet's past. Scientists writing the Science papers also note that since liquid water is a major prerequisite for life, the area could have been habitable at times in Martian history. The papers largely cover discoveries previously announced by mission scientists, but which have since passed scientific peer review.