NASA has sent multiple spacecraft to Mars to search for evidence of water and potential life. The Viking landers in 1976 tested soil and atmosphere for signs of microbial life. Photos from 1997 showed evidence of flash flooding, and samples from rovers in 2004 indicated past water presence. Curiosity rover findings in 2015 showed aqueous environments, while Opportunity found iron-rich rocks suggesting water circulation. Overall findings point to seasonal water flows leaving dark streaks, and hydrated soil salts with trapped water molecules, suggesting contemporary water forms the streaks. NASA plans to explore these findings further with a 2020 mission.

1. W A T E R O N M A R S
D A N N Y R O D R I G U E Z

2. T H E M A R T I A N
P L A N E T
• In 1976 NASA landed two
Viking Spacecrafts onto
Mars.
• The purpose of this
mission was to test soil and
the atmosphere to see if
there was any forms of life
similar to the bacteria on
Earth.

3. E V I D E N C E I N
1 9 9 7
• In 1997 we began taking
photographs of the surface
on Mars using a high
definition camera courtesy of
the Mars Global Surveyor
aircraft.
• Evidence from the
photographs suggest that
areas on the surface were
once subject to forms of
flash fooding.

4. S P I R I T A N D
O P P O R T U N I T Y
R O V E R S
• In 2004 NASA launched
two rovers onto Mars, The
Spirit and Opportunity to
explore the surface and
collect more samples.
• The samples collected
indicated that Mars had a
presence of water in the
past moving us forward on
our search for forms of life.

5. T H E
C U R I O S I T Y
• In 2010 photographs by
graduate student Lujendra
Ojha document long dark
streaks on the planet using
NASA’S orbital camera, The
HiRise.
• Lead NASA to sending their
most technologically
advanced piece of
geochemistry equipment,
The Curiosity Rover.

6. T H E
C U R I O S I T Y ’ S
F I N D I N G S
• It was sent to explore a site in the
Gale crater where a broad diversity of
materials were observed from Orbit.
• In September of 2015 findings in the
environment have in fact had
exposure to aqueous surroundings.
• The Opportunity rover which was
exploring the Endeavor crater also
found rocks which had a presence of
Iron indicating that there was also
fluid circulation and aqueous
interactions before and after the crater
was formed.

7. O V E R A L L
F I N D I N G S
• Photographs taken by the HiRise camera
indicate that the dark lines and streaks on the
planet are from water flowing and trickling down
sloped areas seasonally as they appear and
reappear.
• The streaks vary in size and visibility throughout
time.
• Samples collected from the rovers direct us to
hydrated salts in the soil with water molecules
being trapped into the crystal structures.
• The presence of hydrated salts is presumably
caused by contemporary water forming those
streaks.
• NASA would eventually like to send a spacecraft
to further explore these findings in 2020