NASA has posted a teaser for the announcement of a major science finding Monday at 11:30 Eastern. Speculation is running amok, mostly tongue-in-cheek.
A clue to the announcement may be found in the list of conference panelists, which includes Alfred McEwen. McEwen is principal investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). Note also that, besides imaging in the visible wavelengths, HiRISE makes observations at near-infrared wavelengths to obtain information on the mineral groups present.
So might this have something top do with water, or perhaps some minerals of particular value or interest? We’ll see.
UPDATE: So it’s water. Not just ancient water, but fresh evidence of periodic ongoing surface flows. Let’s go check it out.