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Comedian Steve Martin Gets Excited About Latest Space Discovery: There Is Water On Mars

By Kim McLendon
Published on: 06:16 PST, Jun 25, 2016

Steve Martin took to Twitter last night to express his excitement about the discovery of water on Mars. The Saturday Night Live veteran led a delightful conversation about the topic with Twitter fans, friends, and some people from the NASA Curiosity Rover team who were clever enough to gain a lot of replies from Steve.

Water on Mars? Is this an old SNL skit Steve Martin is recalling? No, Martin is right about Mars having water — rivers of it, actually. Although, Martin is probably joking about actually wanting to try some.

The latest space discovery was photographed and analyzed by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, usually abbreviated as MRO. NASA really found water on Mars; at the very least, they found the Mars equivalent of our H2O.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR7wmD73P24

Steve Martin and his friends should hold off on the taste test until scientists learn more. So far, they know the liquid on Mars is very salty. In fact, it is so salty it sometimes won’t freeze even in the cold climate of the red planet. Astronaut John Grunsfeld, who serves as the associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, explains the reasoning behind the exploratory quest for Martian water. It’s all on the NASA website.

“Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected. This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water — albeit briny — is flowing today on the surface of Mars.”

Water on Mars appears when using an imaging spectrometer, as dark streaks on the red Martian landscape that ebb and flow over time. The streaks are actually hydrated minerals, or it could be said they are wet, salty deposits. According to NASA. the majority of this salty fluid is below the surface with just enough saturating upward in the Martian soil to make the surface wet.

Steve Martin[Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images]
Steve Martin [Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images]

Steve Martin might have to do some digging to find that martian liquid. Apparently, the majority of it is in underground aquifers, and there is still no word on the likelihood of carbonation. What scientists do know is that it has a much colder freezing point due to the high salt content.

Steve Martin by Kevin Winter r
Steve Martin [Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
Water on Mars may not be exactly like our H2O, but, just like on Earth, liquids seems to flow downhill from the mountain tops to the valleys below. What is even more interesting? The flow seems to be seasonal. They appear when temperatures are minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit or greater, but vanish when the red planet’s weather is colder, according to NASA.

Steve Martin sounds excited about space exploration. This latest space discovery leads to many more questions and will require a lot more data collection. NASA may use one of their surface rovers to scout for water, according to Geek Wire. The rover called Curiosity could be just the right tool to explore the mountains in search of H2O. The rover is currently plodding away up the side of Mount Sharp. Mount Sharp’s base springs from the center of the Gale Crater and rises to a height of about 3 miles.

Steve Martin may be joking, but water on Mars is no joke, as NASA scientists rush to learn more about the latest space discovery.

[Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images]

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