NASA's Mars orbiter finds water flowed on Red Planet longer than thought

Caltech scientists studying data from NASA`s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter found signs of liquid water on the Red Planet as recently as 2 billion to 2.5 billion years ago, meaning water flowed there about a billion years longer than previous estimates.

Washington: It is commonly believed that water on Mars evaporated about 3 billion years ago.

But two scientists studying data from NASA`s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter found signs of liquid water on the Red Planet as recently as 2 billion to 2.5 billion years ago, meaning water flowed there about a billion years longer than previous estimates.

The findings, published in the journal AGU Advances, centre on the chloride salt deposits left behind as icy meltwater flowing across the landscape evaporated.