UH-Manoa rides wave
of recent Mars discoveries

Researchers say water on the planet
will aid human exploration

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By Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com

With the evidence of river valleys and channels on Mars, the discovery of what may be the remains of a frozen sea is "pretty neat," but not that surprising, said Jeff Taylor, a University of Hawaii researcher who is part of the international team that made the find.

The presence of water indicates that there may have been life on Mars, but that isn't the most exciting part of the discovery, Taylor said.

The exciting element is that "it tells us about the potential for future life, as far as humans living on Mars," Taylor said.

"You can dig up and extract water from this, and not only find signs of life, but use it for life support," he said. Water could be purified for drinking water, or used to irrigate crops.

Taylor is part of a 20-scientist team that has a gamma ray spectrometer on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. UH-Manoa's incoming chancellor, Peter Englert, is also a member of the team, which includes scientists from educational and research institutes in the United States, Germany, Russia and France.

In three studies appearing this week in the journal Science, researchers say remote-sensing data from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft suggest that large deposits of water ice are buried below the planet's surface.

There are about 13 scientists at the University of Hawaii studying Mars, Taylor said. "I expect us to become really one of the world's leading centers in the study of Mars during the next couple of years," he said.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology
University of Hawaii