By re-analyzing data from ESA’s Mars Express (European Space Agency) spacecraft, NASA scientists have discovered evidence that the nearby red planet is not a dry ball at all.
New research, in collaboration with two leading space agencies, NASA and ESA, promises to change long-held notions about Mars. It may not be completely “dead” from drought, but still full of water, maybe even volcanic!
According to Science Alert, a team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) detected strange radar reflections around the South Pole region of Mars, in an area known as the Tishc Subantarctic Antarctic Depression. . These signals revealed dozens of underground lakes, less than a kilometer and a half away. So, Mars actually has a lot more water than previously thought!
The Daily Mail reports that the saddest thing is that some of these lakes are located in areas that may be too cold for the water to remain liquid, even in the presence of salty perchlorate minerals identified by NASA.
“We don’t know if these signals are liquid, but they are more prevalent than early studies suggest,” says Dr Jeffrey Plaut of JPL.
This evidence complements a study published by NASA in March which shows that the water on this red planet is not entirely lost in space as previously thought, but mainly “buried” inside the planet. . The same is true on Earth: in fact, there is much less water on the surface of the oceans than in the mantle.
Currently, the average Martian surface is minus 63 degrees Celsius, too cold for water to be liquid. But some previous evidence from NASA suggests that some underground lakes could be liquid water! But liquid water is one of the essential conditions for the life of this world.
According to the team, besides the salty minerals, the fact that the water in the underground lake is liquid has another possible explanation: that of volcanic activity. If this is true, that would be great news because volcanism and other geological activities are very good conditions for survival. In the solar system, Earth is the only planet still geologically active, and this process helps to stabilize the modern climate, as well as to create the hormones necessary for the emergence and evolution of life there are billions years.
The only obstacle is that NASA has yet to find clear evidence of volcanoes. It will probably be their target on a future mission to Mars.
