Reasons to Believe

Perennial Martian Waters

TNRTB Archive - Retained for reference information

Planetary scientists have uncovered more evidence dampening the “follow the water” enthusiasm currently driving the search for extraterrestrial life. Data from the Mars Express Orbiter for the first time identified frozen water in the southern polar cap of Mars during the local summer. This discovery establishes that Mars has perennial water, but it is at a level consistent with cometary delivery and with the water being removed through occasional severe tips of the tilt of Mars’ rotation axis. Such circumstances explain the water features detected by the NASA Mars Rovers, but also establish that for past 3.8 billion years Martian water never was in a form that could foster either the origin or the support of life. Discoveries about water on Mars continue to add to the evidence that life can only be explained by a supernatural Creator.


 Jean-Pierre Bibring, et al, “Perennial Water Ice Identified in the South Polar Cap of Mars,” Nature, 428 (2004), pp. 627-630; Timothy N. Titus, “Water, Water Everywhere,” Nature, 428 (2004), pp. 610-611. cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v428/n6983/abs/nature02133_fs.html


 RTB articles: Hugh Ross, “Follow the Water …To Life?” Connections Linking Science and Faith, volume 6, number 1, first quarter (2004), p. 4; Hugh Ross, “Life on Mars,” Connections Linking Science and Faith, volume 6, number 1, first quarter (2004), p. 5.

 RTB books: The Creator and the Cosmos, 3rd edition

Subjects: Mars

Dr. Hugh Ross
