1. Water On Mars
It's been a hell of a year for space in general, but Mars has got to be one of the stars of the show. Back in September, NASA announced that they would be holding a press conference to announce an exciting new discovery. It suddenly became apparent that
we'd discovered water on Mars. The headlines conjured up mental images of serene lakes and babbling Martian brooks. The press conference, however, slightly ruined the media's fun by banging on about
recurrent slope lineae (RSL) and wet brine flow, leading them, necessitating them to ask questions like "so let's talk about astronauts?" in order to sex it up a bit. The RSL are thought to be the Martian version of seasonal melt water, flowing down the red slopes in the form of hydrated perchlorates. Although the presence of water on Mars is not confirmation of alien life, it was also announced that there is actually life on Mars ... it's just from Earth. It is estimated that 20,000 to 40,000 heat-resistant bacterial spores were on the
Curiosity rover at launch. It's probably a good idea to keep those away from the water up there, just in case we end up accidentally seeding a planet.
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