Mars has water.
NASA tells the world of a historical discovery today.
In the 1870s, two Italians, priest Pietro Secchi and astronomer Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli, announced that Mars had canali. (*) Canali is Italian for “channels” but was translated into English as “canals,” implying construction. Subsequently a firestorm of intense scientific debate and public interest considered whether H2O was present on the Red Planet. (†) (‡) (§)
In a news conference today, NASA has announced that its rover Opportunity has acquired evidence that the area in which it landed was once “drenched with water.” Mars has water. There may be a great deal of water under the Martian surface.
It is mission accomplished for NASA and its international partners, including Germany. We have made a huge leap forward in the search for life in the rest of the universe.
The immensely important field of space geology now gains a high level of public prominence.