Scientists Struggle To Find Origins Of Water On Mars

Okay, so there's water on Mars. That's an incredible discovery. But the big questions remain: where did the water come from and even more importantly, where did it go?

As NASA's twin Mars rovers continue their search for answers, one astronomer thinks he might have some clues.

Canadian backyard astronomer Terrence Dickinson says, to get an idea why our red neighbor has no water while the Earth is virtually awash in it, you have to go back in time -- 4.57 billion years ago.

Like the Earth, Dickinson says, Mars was formed at about that time by coalescing dust and debris left over from the sun's birth. At the time, he theorizes, there were almost twice the number of planets currently occupying the solar system. The orbits were erratic and there were collisions. Some of them were catastrophic. One such impact between Earth and a planet the size of Mars almost spelled the end of life as we know it before it was even born.

The bombardments, which also pelted Mars, began to subside about 3.9 billion years ago. At the time, Dickinson believes there was water on both Mars and Earth. So how did it get there?

Comets. That's his answer and he's sticking to it.

Dickinson, who edits Skynews Magazine, theorizes huge snowballs from space -- comets -- splashed down on both Mars and Earth, depositing vast amounts of H20.

"Because of Earth's distance from the sun, our planet's surface temperature remains, on average, between the freezing and boiling points of water," Dickinson writes. "Moreover, Earth's atmosphere acts like a lid, trapping most of the moisture. Mars, on the other hand, is too far from the sun to stay warm and too small to gravitationally trap a dense enough atmosphere to bottle up what warmth it does have."

So what happened to the water on Mars?

"The comet-fed oceans it likely had either escaped into space or ended up trapped in cold storage as permafrost," says Dickinson. There's no real mention as to why, but those very same collisions could have something to do with it.

His theory, widely held among many in the scientific community, will be doubly tested later this year. The rovers Spirit and Opportunity will continue their investigations of rock formations on Mars. But in May, two comets will wander this way. Dickinson says they'll be examined carefully for signs of water, the precursor of life.

FMI: www.skynewsmagazine.com