“evidence of vast lakes, flowing rivers and deltas on early Mars..”

We may now be able to image our small blue planet from 31 million miles away, but there appears to have been a time when there was, at least, one other blue planet in the neighbourhood. According to data from the CRISM (Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars) instrument on Nasa’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, there is evidence of vast lakes, flowing rivers and deltas on early Mars, from about 4.6 billion years ago to 3.8 billion years ago. That corresponds to the time, 3.7 billion years or so ago, when it is believed that life already existed on Earth. Although recent discoveries suggest life might have existed here long before then..


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