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Some evidence of the existence of liquid water on Mars may be incorrect
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have stated that incorrect data processing, obtained by the Orbiter Mars Recognition, could lead the probe to mistakenly identify the presence of hydrated salts on the red planet, writes Chronicle. info with reference to the Telegraph.
This means that some areas of Mars, which at this stage assume the presence of liquid water and the conditions of life, may actually be dry and lifeless.
Experts have discovered a problem when searching for hydrated perchlorates on Mars maps, based on information obtained from the Visible and Near Infrared (CRISM) spectrometer. Perchlorate lowers the freezing temperature of water to 80 degrees, which makes possible the existence of liquid water on Mars. Traces of the presence of perchlorates in Martian soil have been discovered by the Phoenix spacecraft and Mars Curiosity rover.
The presence of minerals on the planet, the researchers tested for the reflection of different wavelengths of the surface due to a chemical in a particular way absorb and reflect light. However, the CRISM camera does not always work properly, so it detects reflected light spots where they should not be. Algorithms for correcting such errors sometimes make hollows in the spectrum at the same wavelength as perchlorate.
By adjusting the CRISM algorithm, researchers had the opportunity to examine the smallest traces of perchlorate on the surface of Mars. The result was that perchlorates cover almost the entire red planet. Further inspection revealed that the salts are present even in the absence of geological reason.
According to the scientists, this suggests that some data on the presence of perchlorates on the surface of Mars have proved to be false. Researchers point out that it does not mean at all that salts on the red planet, but that it means that they are harder to find
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