The discovery that liquid water flows on the surface of Mars has been heralded as a major scientific milestone, but just as important could be the role this breakthrough plays in reinvigorating public excitement about space exploration.

“These big events tend to have that effect; we saw something similar last year with the comet landing and the release of [Hollywood film] Interstellar,” Edward Duca, a science communicator and organiser of Science in the City, said.

The equipment we send to Mars is carrying a lot of microbes from earth, and we don’t know how they’ll take to the environment

“Flowing water brings back images of the possibility of life on Mars, which people have been dreaming about ever since we believed (wrongly) we had spotted canals on Mars 100 years ago.”

NASA confirmed on Monday that dark elongated streaks which appear in summertime on the surface of the Red Planet are produced by salty water, perhaps capable of sustaining chemical reactions and even life.

Scientists do not yet know whether the water emerges from some kind of underground aquifer, ice contained beneath the surface, or even whether it condenses out of the thin Martian atmosphere.

Mars is known to have permanent polar ice caps, and scientists believe a primitive ocean may have once covered up to a third of its surface.

Science communicator Edward Duca.

Dr Duca, who recently helped stage a simulation of the Philae comet landing in Valletta, believes the tantalising possibilities alone can help inspire a new generation of cosmologists and astrophysicists.

“I think children can really connect with this idea and, just as adults are engaged, children can also be amazed by the idea of water and life on other worlds,” he says.

“Managing to capture children’s imagination while they’re young is really important to help them dedicate the time they need to grasp science.”

Even more exciting could be what happens next.

Astrophysicist Kristian Zarb Adami.

According to astrophysicist Kristian Zarb Adami, the discovery of liquid water, considered an essential ingredient for life, suggests that Mars may at least be hospitable to microbial life in the summer months.

It was not yet as simple as visiting the site of the discovery and taking samples, however, Prof. Zarb Adami explained that closer scientific study was hindered by the remoteness and inaccessibility of the areas where evidence of water had been discovered.

Moreover, scientists will be wary of sending a rover too close to any sensitive areas – the water discovery was made from a distance using a technique known as spectroscopy – because of the risk of contamination.

“The equipment we send to Mars is carrying a lot of microbes from earth, and we don’t know how they’ll take to the environment,” he said.

Even if the search for life is still some way away, the discovery still opens the door to resolving another question that has been hanging over humanity’s understanding of space – how our earth came to have its own vast oceans and rivers.

“The way water forms or indeed remains on planets is still a mystery,” Prof. Zarb Adami said.

“For several years, we believed it might have come from icy comets and asteroids, but our recent landing on comets proved conclusively that water must have come to our planet in some other way – which Mars will hopefully be able to shed light on.”

It is an exciting time for Mars enthusiasts, who will soon be treated to the big budget spectacle of Hollywood blockbuster The Martian, about an astronaut marooned on the Red Planet.

Cynics, in fact, have been quick to suggest the timing of NASA’s announcement may have been more than simple coincidence.

One person making no secret of his enthusiasm is art teacher Clive Gerada, the only Maltese to apply for a one-way trip to the Red Planet with the private initiative Mars One, which aims to land the first humans on Mars by 2025 – financed in part by a reality show from the new colony.

Mr Gerada was ultimately unsuccessful in his application, but still keeps up with news of the project.

“We have to keep studying and exploring because it’s a natural part of human development. It’s part of human nature to want to explore,” Mr Gerada said. “I hope one day we’ll actually go to Mars, and even discover other worlds that humans can live on.”

His excitement, however, comes tempered with a warning, pertinent in light of fears of contaminating the pristine environments of the heavens: “Wherever we’ve gone, we’ve always left our footprints behind us.”