Scientists claim Red planet too dry to be habitable

Mars too dry to be habitable, say scientists

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Few days after scientists witnessed a funnel-shaped depression which offered signs of habitability, they now claim that the red planet is too dry to be habitable.

Mars is the only target outside Earth which has been searched for life extensively but a team of researchers has found that it is too dry to be habitable and without water, it is impossible for humans to survive.

"Evidence shows that more than three billion years ago Mars was wet and habitable. However, this latest research reaffirms just how dry the environment is today," said Christian Schroder, Lecturer at the University of Stirling in Britain

"For life to exist in the areas we investigated, it would need to find pockets far beneath the surface, located away from the dryness and radiation present on the ground," Schroder, who is also science team collaborator for NASA`s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity mission, noted.

The discovery, published in the journal Nature Communications, provides vital insight into the planet`s current environment and shows how difficult it would be for life to exist on Mars today.

Using data from the Opportunity mission, the scientists examined a cluster of meteorites at Meridiani Planum -- a plain just south of the planet`s equator and at a similar latitude to Gale crater.

The researchers calculated a chemical weathering rate for Mars, in this case how long it takes for rust to form from the metallic iron present in meteorites.

This chemical weathering process depends on the presence of water. It takes at least 10 and possibly up to 10,000 times longer on Mars to reach the same levels of rust formation than in the driest deserts on Earth and points to the present-day extreme aridity that has persisted on Mars for millions of years, the study said.

A study published last year, which used data from the Curiosity Rover investigating Gale crater on Mars, suggested that very salty liquid water might be able to condense in the top layers of Martian soil overnight.

"But, as our data show, this moisture is much less than the moisture present even in the driest places on Earth," Schroder explained.

(With IANS inputs)