Mars has never ceased to amaze humanity over the course of time as it shares many similarities with our world. Now, NASA has just discovered that the red planet was thriving with streams and likes much earlier in Mars' history than thought before.
The new lakes and streams that were discovered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) turn out to have formed billions of years earlier. This new discovery increases the likelihood of bacterial life to thrive in Mars during a larger expanse of time.
According to Sharon Wilson of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, "We discovered valleys that carried water into lake basins. Several lake basins filled and overflowed, indicating there was a considerable amount of water on the landscape during this time."
The valley ranges found in the Heart Lake valley system stretches 90 miles across the Martian surface and is thought to once hold 670 cubic miles of water. If this is true then it would be bigger than Lake Ontario.
Based on new information gathered from the MRO, NASA concludes that the wet period of Mars occurred two to three billion years ago. Previously, it has been though that the Martian atmosphere was already not existing during this period.
Sharon Wilson adds, "The rate at which water flowed through these valleys is consistent with runoff from melting snow. These weren't rushing rivers. They have simple drainage patterns and did not form deep or complex systems like the ancient valley networks from early Mars."
The new discovery would usher in a new age of a more persistent attitude towards knowing how Mars may have fostered life early in its history. With the help of the new learning about Mars' early history, the chances that man will embark on a mission to set foot on the Martian planet also increases.
