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January 31, 2004, Darmstadt, Germany - The European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter has been exploring the red planet from 186 miles (300 kilometers) altitude. Its high resolution stereo camera has been sending back extraordinary color images. Some, like the Gusev crater image above, show green areas. Some like the Reull Vallis ancient river channel below show blue and blue-green regions.
Could any of the blue and green colors indicate current moisture? The Mars Express camera and OMEGA infrared spectrometer confirmed a lot of water ice at the South Pole on January 18, 2004, and the Spirit and Opportunity rovers are looking for further soil and rock evidence of water past and present.
What causes the green, blue and blue-green colors in the Martian geography? Current scientific speculation includes mineral deposits, soil moisture and maybe even algae. I called the European Space Agency in Darmstadt, Germany, this week and asked ESA Flight Operations Director, Michael McKay, how long it would take for the instruments on Mars Express to have more answers.
Interviews:
Michael McKay, Flight Operations Director, European Space Agency, Darmstadt, Germany: "It's a very good question. When you look at these pictures, there are so many images it evokes of our own planet, Earth, and actually with our own perception of vegetation and what it looks like or possible signs of life. I think it's up to Spirit to have a look (in the Gusev crater) and to give us more conclusive evidence because from several hundred kilometers, you can draw only so many conclusions.
But certainly like the green in the Gusev crater picture or by looking at the development of darker spots toward the South Pole which are tied to seasonal variations, it certainly gives rise to the speculation that there could be algae.
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