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Oceans, Lakes and Rivers on Mars
New data from Mars shows that the red planet once had oceans, lakes, and rivers. It was a long time ago, but it looks like the first 600 million years on Mars were wet ones. In planet years, Mars was just a baby. It has been four billion years since Martian rivers flowed, but scientists say that Mars might have been a place where life could have existed back then.
The news comes from a spaceship that flew above Mars and took a look at the soil. It photographed clay formations that could only be the result of lots and lots of water. Now the planet is a giant red desert. Any water is under ground, and frozen solid.
There's no evidence that there ever was life on Mars, but scientists are still searching. They have landed several spaceships on the planet's surface. In 2009, a new lander, called the Mars Science Laboratory, will blast off on its way to Mars. It will have a bunch of high tech gadgets that allow it to explore craters on Mars. If there were any living things on Mars, they might have left fossils, which the lander can dig up. The more we learn about Mars, the greater the chance that maybe, just maybe, we will find evidence that life once existed there. Wow!
I'm Adelbert and that's what happened in science this week!
Can you pick Mars out of a planetary lineup? Play Match It and find out.
Photo: NASA
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