Water Once Possible on Mars Topic of Sept. 27 University of Pittsburgh Lecture
PITTSBURGH-Beach trips to Mars are still the stuff of science fiction, but the three- year mission of the Mars Exploration Rover suggests that water existed at least at one point on the Red Planet.
Mariek Schmidt of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History will discuss the evidence so far collected by the rover for the Colloquium Series presented by the University of Pittsburgh's geology and planetary science department in the School of Arts and Sciences. The presentation begins at 4 p.m. Sept. 27 in Pitt's Thaw Hall, Room 11, at 3943 O'Hara St.
Volcanic rocks collected by the rover-known as Spirit-contain deposits altered by the interaction of water and volcanic heat and pressure. These formations would require persistent groundwater or ice to form, suggesting that water once existed in these rocks.
The rocks were collected from the rover's initial landing site in the volcanic Gusev Crater, an area that initially showed little evidence of water.
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9/26/09/tmw
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