Has NASA discovered an ocean on Mars? Space agency poised to announce ‘major science finding’ from the Red Planet

NASA called a press conference for Monday entitled ‘Mars mystery solved’
Space agency has pledged to unveil a ‘major science finding’ at the event
Many think scientists are due to announce the discovery of flowing water
If that is the case, then the discovery would be the first of its kind
Flowing water also raises the prospect of discovering alien life on Mars

There is growing speculation that NASA may be about to announce it has discovered liquid water on Mars after the space agency called a press conference for Monday entitled ‘Mars mystery solved’.

At the center of the rumors is Lujendra Ojha, a grad student at Georgia Tech, who has been announced as one of the speakers alongside two of NASA’s most senior scientists.

Ojha is credited with ‘accidentally’ discovering the first major evidence that moving water existed on Mars after studying images of the planet’s surface back in 2011 while at the University of Arizona.

Aliens on Mars?

By observing pictures of gullies on Mars over time, using a computer program to filer out defects such as shadows, Ojha observed dark ‘fingers’ spreading across the planet’s surface

Alongside Alfred McEwen, who is also tabled to speak at the NASA press conference, Ojha decided to study images of gullies on Mars’s surface taken by a fellow researcher, Colin Dundas.

For his study, Ojha edited the images to remove blemishes such as shadows and light interference, only to discover dark finger-like markings that moved through the gullies over time.

Not only did the markings appear to move, they did so in a pattern that would be consistent with flowing water.

Ojha branded the discovery a ‘lucky accident’, saying he had no idea what the shapes were at first, and adding that they had not even occurred in the gullies he had been planning to study.

None the less, once the potential significance of the shapes was realized, he committed to ‘years of research’ in trying to prove that the markings were actually created by flowing water.

Ojha then moved on the Georgia Tech where he continued to study the gullies.

Another Georgia Tech grad student, Mary Beth Wilhelm, is also tabled to speak alongside Ojha, and is likely to have been working with him at the University.

Since Ojha’s discovery, observations of similar sites on Mars have revealed that the finger-like patterns seem to emerge in warmer seasons, and die away during cooler seasons.

This could potentially mean that there is flowing water, and even an ocean, under the surface of the Red Planet, that rises to ground level during warmer weather.