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This Wednesday a team of Italian scientists revealed an impressive result of a study of March : The planet has a lake of liquid and salty water under a layer of one kilometer and half ice. However, there are many details that can come out of the research published in Science. Here we will answer some of the main doubts about it.
— Where is the lake of Martian water? —
According to the information given in the publication, the deposit is located one and a half kilometers deep under a layer of ice in an area called Planum Austral, at the South Pole of Mars, where the Mars Express flew over and analyzed an area of 200 kilometers.
In this place, the temperature reaches 120 degrees below zero and it is there that, in a profile made by the ship, the presence of liquid water was detected, although there is no detail on the depth I would like to have this lake the experts place it at least a meter.
— Is this the only source of liquid water on Mars? —
In this passage, the data used by the Italian scientists for the survey cover a study area of only 200 kilometers, which means that it is necessary to fly over again the area to determine if there are lakes of this type in other areas parts of the South Pole of Mars.
For the moment, the only way to analyze these places is with the probes that orbit around the planet, since the rovers that are on its surface are not near the lake found and n & # 39; do not have the same instruments as their flying pairs.
In any case, the discovery allows scientists to focus their search for water in this area for the time being with the intention of finding more similar deposits and of # 39; increase the amount of water that was found in the planet
— Was this water deposit planned? —
The existence of water on Mars was one of the most important researches on Mars since humanity managed to arrive with its robots to explore the Martian surface and the probes that orbit the planet, just like the Mars Express. Until now, scientists had managed to find only a few areas with traces of ice or formulate theories about past water accumulations.
For nearly three decades, planetary scientist Steve Clifford began theorizing the existence of lakes under layers of ice at the Mars poles, in a sort of comparison with the Earth's poles. Now, before this discovery, the expert assures that the tests provided by these authors are "persuasive, but not definitive," and urges them to search with more instruments.
While many experts would like to say that he was supposed to find water on the planet, the truth is that up until now, she was closer to the same. an illusion that a certainty . – Does the water on Mars mean that there is life on the planet? —
No. At least not necessarily. For a long time scientists and astrobiology experts have determined that the conditions on the surface of Mars are not adapted to life as it is now known, that is to say, dependent oxygen and other conditions that this planet does not provide.
However, the discovery of liquid water opens the doors to the possible existence of organisms on the planet. For the doctor of the Open University, Manish Patel, " is where we have enough radiation protection, in addition to pressure and temperature rise at more favorable levels ". the discovery of water also helps to increase the possibilities of life outside the Earth, because it is one of the most important conditions sought in all the exoplanets discovered by the scientists. Hence also the importance of the "habitable zone" in other star systems, that is to say the distance of the planets with their stars that allows them a temperature to maintain the l? liquid water. For Clifford, " no known terrestrial microorganism could survive in waters as salty and cold ", however, El Pais said, "the presence of liquid water could also be due to a geothermal heat flux, which would reduce salinity and increase temperatures making the lake much more habitable. "
— Is it possible to reach this lake? —
Not now. This is because the instruments available in the missions that are deployed on Mars do not have the capability to drill an ice surface of more than one and a half kilometers in depth where is the deposit. d & # 39; water. However, there is a possibility that the next machines arriving on the planet will have this function.
On Earth, scientists have successfully transported machines in Antarctica to make deep holes that allow the study of underground layers under significant layers of ice, now it is necessary to take this technology to the red planet.
It's not as simple as saying it. The next mission that NASA has planned to reach Mars – and which will take off in two years – is focused on the search for organic matter and the ability to bring samples of Martian soil back to Earth, but not on the ground. option of drilling. to the depth necessary to reach this lake.
It is possible that now, both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA, for its acronym in English), are starting to work on tools that allow further study in these lakes . Something that could reach Mars in the coming years, so there is plenty of time to reach the Martian Lake.
— Does this change the need for water for future missions? —
Among the problems that scientists must solve before people start approaching rockets to Mars, how to give them the basic resources to survive on a planet that does not matter with them. In this list appears oxygen food and water .
Although researchers have now found this deposit which is probably at least one meter deep, its location is not very favorable to future potential missions.
Being at the South Pole, under a layer of ice, would not be close to the first Martian dwellings to be established since – in spite of the water – the Martian poles pose a problem. habitat for humans.
This is explained by the University of the Department of Astronomy of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile, José Maza. In this zone the temperature can reach during the day 50 degrees below zero while at night it can reach 100 or 120 degrees below zero.
Source: El Mercurio – GDA
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