Data received from the Mars orbit, through satellite MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter), aim at the discovery of old thermal water tanks in the Vernal Crater, a site where diverse forms of life could evolve in Mars, in agreement with a study published in the Astrobiology magazine.

The thermal waters have great astrobiológico meaning, because the nearest relatives of the first alive organisms on the Earth have their habitat detro and around thermal waters. If these forms could have been present in Mars, the thermal water tanks would be suitable locations for the search of physical or chemical evidences of their existence in the past, and could define areas for future missions of exploration.

Investigators Carlton C. Allen and Dorothy Z. Oehler, of the departmento of investigation in Astromateriales of the Space Center Johnson of the NASA, consider that the new data taken by the space chamber on board the MRO show structures in the Vernal Crater that can reveal the presence in the past of hidrotermal activity.

Concretely, in the South part of the crater, episodes of water emerging from the depth can have been produced until the surface, reason why it could be a site where the life could get to be developed in Mars.

“The thermal water tanks are key objectives for future missions to Mars”, has declared SDherry L. Cady, publisher of the Astrobiology magazine.

“These Earth deposits have preserved evidences of fossilized rest of microbial communities”, has explained. Thus, the possibility of finding life evidences is high since the sedimentary deposits come from hidrotermales fluids.