New findings from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars.

Source: NASA Confirms Evidence That Liquid Water Flows on Today’s Mars

If you know me, if you’ve been in my classes, you know that I love the idea of space travel.  Today was an extremely exciting day because NASA announced that they found evidence of recent flowing liquid saltwater on Mars!

Why is that important to me?  Because it’s so cool!  Scientifically, I’ve grown up my whole life with “no water on Mars” until very recently.  I watched the first Martian Rover (Sojourner) in 1997 and spent hours staring at the pictures.  I started my first Twitter account to follow Spirit and Opportunity.  I cried when Spirit finally fell silent.  Humankind has not walked on the moon in my lifetime and I think that’s unacceptable.  I’ve always been curious about what else is out there.

Finding out that there is liquid saltwater on Mars means that there is a potential that life could survive on Mars!  Are temperatures hospitable? Um, NO. Not at all. Yet plenty of organisms here on Earth are very cold-adapted (see psychrophiles).  Why not elsewhere?

Hey, Engineering Department!  Send me to Mars!  I’ll take a one-way ticket IF you can give me a 50% chance of reaching the surface alive and remaining alive for 2 weeks!