{"id":62747,"date":"2024-08-28T14:23:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T14:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/e1ffdb2c-f1ee-4014-8caa-7a3f89d015e6"},"modified":"2024-08-28T14:39:42","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T14:39:42","slug":"liquid-water-has-been-found-on-mars-and-could-provide-a-potential-habitat-but-theres-a-catch","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/liquid-water-has-been-found-on-mars-and-could-provide-a-potential-habitat-but-theres-a-catch\/","title":{"rendered":"Liquid water has been found on Mars, and could provide a potential habitat. But there’s a catch"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Ezzy Pearson\n <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 28 August 2024 at 14:23 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Liquid water has <\/strong>been found on Mars. The underground reservoirs could provide a potential habitat for Martian life, but unfortunately we\u2019ll probably never know as the water is located up to 20km (13 miles) below the surface.<\/p>

The presence of river channels, deltas and water-altered rocks on Mars mean it\u2019s now widely believed that water flowed across Mars until around three billion years ago.<\/p>

The big mystery, however, is where that water went.<\/p>

Evidence of liquid water below the surface of Mars was found by ESA’s Mars Express mission in 2018<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Ancient Martian riverbeds on Mars, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 1 February 2024. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/University of Arizona<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Though some evaporated into space, this can\u2019t explain all the water loss.<\/p>

Geologists had suspected the rest may have gone underground, potentially creating habitable havens where Martian life has been able to thrive.<\/p>

“Understanding the Martian water cycle is critical for understanding the evolution of the climate, surface and interior,” says Vashan Wright, from the University of California San Diego, who conducted the study while at the University of California, Berkeley.<\/p>

“A useful starting point is to identify where water is and how much is there.”<\/p>

Could we really live on Mars?<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\"Illustration
Illustration showing a cutout of the Martian interior beneath NASA\u2019s Insight lander. A study has provide evidence for a zone of fractured rock 11.5-20 km below the surface that is full of liquid water. Credit: James Tuttle Keane and Aaron Rodriquez, courtesy of Scripps Institution of Oceanography<\/figcaption><\/figure>

How InSight found water on Mars<\/strong><\/h2>

Wright\u2019s team searched for the potential water using NASA\u2019s InSight lander, which listened for Martian seismic activity from 2018 to 2022.<\/p>

As the vibrations from these marsquakes travelled through the planet, the data allowed the team to look beneath Mars\u2019s surface.<\/p>

This revealed enough water to cover the entire planet\u2019s surface up to a depth of 1\u20132km (around a mile).<\/p>

\"Bands
Bands of rocks on Mars in a region called ‘Skrinkle Haven’ that could have been formed by a fast, deep river. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS<\/figcaption><\/figure>

“Establishing that there is a big reservoir of liquid water provides some window into what the climate was like or could be like,” says Michael Manga from UC Berkeley who took part in the study.<\/p>

“I don\u2019t see why the underground reservoir is not a habitable environment.”<\/p>

Verifying its potential habitability will prove tricky, however, as the water is 11.5\u201320km (7 to 13 miles) beneath the surface.<\/p>

“We haven\u2019t found any evidence for life on Mars, but at least we have identified a place that should, in principle, be able to sustain life,” says Manga.<\/p>

\"Artist's
Artist’s impression of the InSight lander on Mars. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/figcaption><\/figure>

More missions to Mars?<\/strong><\/h2>

Words: Chris Lintott<\/em><\/p>

InSight is the least heralded of NASA\u2019s missions to Mars \u2013 not a billion-dollar rover, but a static platform for experiments.<\/p>

Instead of sending back images of magnificent vistas, it was deliberately sent to the most boring place imaginable, what its team called the biggest parking lot on Mars.<\/p>

And its most novel experiment, a probe called the \u2018mole\u2019 that was supposed to dig into the Martian soil, didn\u2019t work.<\/p>

Yet it\u2019s this lander that provided the data for this discovery.<\/p>

It follows previous discoveries by relatively modest missions, like Mars Phoenix and Mars Express, which found ice and salty underground lakes.<\/p>

Maybe we should be sending more cheap probes. Beagle 3, anyone?<\/p>

news.berkeley.edu<\/a><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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