NASA's 'major science finding' about Mars probably has to do with water

Images of Mars&#039; Echus Chasma, captured by the European Space Agency

(Image credit: ESA via Getty)

published 28 September 2015

Late last week, NASA announced a news conference on Monday at 11:30 a.m. (EDT) to "detail a major science finding from the agency's ongoing exploration of Mars." People, of course, immediately got excited about the potential discovery of life on Mars, and NASA's brief press release didn't discourage or encourage such speculation.

Still, there are clues in the makeup of the panel: NASA planetary science director Jim Green; Michael Meyer, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program; Lujendra Ojha at the Georgia Institute of Technology; Mary Beth Wilhelm of NASA's Ames Research Center and the Georgia Institute of Technology; and Alfred McEwen, principal investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

"The revelation will more likely deal with water on Mars, since Ojha, Wilhelm, and McEwen are among the authors of a paper that asserts images captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show the existence of flowing water on the planet's surface," says USA Today. Probably not coincidentally, those three are presenting their paper later this week at the European Planetary Science Congress in Nantes, France. You can read the abstract, or just wait until the news conference at 11:30.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.