Scientists Just Found Tons Of Hidden Water On Mars And Theyre Excited
Scientists Just Found Tons Of Hidden Water On Mars, And They’re Excited
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It’s no secret that Mars is home to an abundant amount of frozen water. A new discovery, however, has scientists excited and perplexed. Here’s why.
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Most people think of Mars as nothing but a rocky and dusty planet — but one space rover just found huge amounts of water right below its surface. Among all the planets in the Solar System, Mars regularly proves to be one of the most fascinating. It’s close to Earth, has a solid surface, and is believed to have once had ancient life billions of years ago. Not only is Mars regularly featured in pop culture and science-fiction stories, but it’s also a huge target for scientists and astronomers.
This is fully evident by all of the robots humans have sent to Mars over the years. NASA’s landed five rovers on Mars since 1997, two of which (Curiosity and Perseverance) are currently active and exploring the planet. Ingenuity landed on Mars this February, serving as the first helicopter on the alien world. Humans have also launched numerous orbiters into Mars’ orbit — including the likes of Reconnaissance, MAVEN, and others.
One of these orbiters recently made a huge discovery that has scientists beyond excited. Per a report from the European Space Agency, the organization’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (also known as TGO) just detected vast amounts of water – stretching as large as the Netherlands — underneath Mars’ Valles Marineris canyon system. TGO found this water with its FREND instrument, which is currently used for analyzing hydrogen in the ‘uppermost meter’ of Mars’ soil. As explained by the lead author of this discovery, Igor Mitrofanov, “With TGO we can look down to one meter below this dusty layer and see what’s really going on below Mars’ surface – and, crucially, locate water-rich ‘oases’ that couldn’t be detected with previous instruments.”
Why This Hidden Water Has Scientists Excited
As avid space enthusiasts may already know, this isn’t the first time water’s been detected on Mars. This past October, the Perseverance rover confirmed that Mars once had a large lake in the Jezero crater. Other missions over the years have also found repeated evidence of frozen water buried deep in the Martian surface. The idea of water on Mars isn’t a new one. However, this particular finding is important for a couple of reasons.
Most water on Mars is typically found near the planet’s polar regions and in a frozen state. Scientists believe this newly found water is also frozen, but in this area of the planet, the closer position to Mars’ equator usually causes frozen water to evaporate. As the ESA puts it, “This suggests that some special, as-yet-unclear mix of conditions must be present in Valles Marineris to preserve the water – or that it is somehow being replenished.”
This newly found water is also exciting because of how much closer it is to the Martian surface. Other water stashes on Mars are often multiple kilometers underground and not easily accessible. Given that this water is “not too deep below ground,” that makes it considerably easier to explore with future missions. Furthermore, this is a notable development for the bigger picture of Mars exploration. It makes the Valles Marineris an exciting new target, sure, but it also adds another element to Mars’ rich history. As TGO project scientist Colin Wilson eloquently puts it, “Knowing more about how and where water exists on present-day Mars is essential to understand what happened to Mars’ once-abundant water, and helps our search for habitable environments, possible signs of past life, and organic materials from Mars’ earliest days.”
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/mars-hidden-water-found-valles-marineris-exciting/
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