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An artist impression of the Mars Express spacecraft probing the southern hemisphere of the planet. (USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Arizona State University / ESA / INAF)
layers of dust and ice at the South Pole of Mars, scientists detected a 12-mile-wide brackish water extent, a large, stable reservoir akin to buried lakes under the Antarctic Ice Sheet on Earth.
The long-sought discovery, the greatest detection of liquid water on the red planet, raises the tempting possibility of a very cold and very salty niche where life could have existed – or even persisted. "
" This could be, perhaps, the first habitat we find on Mars, "said global scientist Roberto Orosei of the National Institute of Astrophysics in Italy, who led the # 39, study published in the journal Science.
To be clear, there is no sign of Martian microbes, and the environment is not obviously hospitable – the wat at the base of the polar cap, it is estimated that it is -90 degrees Fahrenheit, well below the typical freezing point of water.Scientists believe that the water is kept in liquid form by a salty brine that Oroseose and his colleagues describe as a "mud."
Scientists do not even know how to call the water plan that they detected by analyzing the echoes collected. three years by the Mars Express spacecraft in orbit.They can not see the bottom with the existing equipment, m but they think it's at least three feet deep; otherwise, they would not have detected it at all. It could be a subglacial lake, an aquifer or a layer of sediment saturated with water.
[‘A fantastic find’: Mars hides thick sheets of ice just below the surface]
Marines have often been found, but they are usually old, fleeting or frozen. The detection of a long-standing liquid water tank is a thrilling proof of an idea that began to be debated three decades ago: there could be water at the base of the ice caps of Mars, similar to that on Earth. The discovery, if confirmed, will provide insight into Mars' climatic history, stimulate the search for other underground water sources, provide a possible resource if ever people travel on the planet – and will help to look for signs of Martian life past or future. One of the ingredients that scientists look for in the search for life is water – not just traces of moisture or ice that freezes and vaporizes, but water sources stable – like an underground lake or aquifer. [19659014"Quandlesextrêmesseproduisentlaviesedéplacedanslesrochesc'estunaspectfondamentaldel'astrobiology"adéclaréJimGreenchefscientifiquedelaNASAquin'apasparticipéàl'study"Leconceptd'eauliquidequelquepartsurMarslaissecroirequ'ilpourraitexisterunenvironnementquiabriteraitlavieexistante"
Orosei and his colleagues used a radar instrument called MARSIS aboard Mars Express spacecraft to make their discovery. MARSIS sends electromagnetic impulses to the planet and measures their echo – and Orosei and his colleagues have discovered particularly bright reflections from a vast region stretching for about 12 miles, about a mile under the ice.
The measures were taken over three years. Then, worried about their hope that bright spots could be water could blind them to other explanations, Orosei and his colleagues spent almost as much time trying to demolish their own data. Mars, like many advanced science fields, has a history of exciting discoveries – like the discovery of the water flowing to the surface in 2015 – which is mainly explained by something much more mundane, such as the flowing dust.
Jeffrey Plaut of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in an email that the interpretation of liquid water is "certainly plausible, but it's not yet a slam dunk." [19659016] "On Earth, no one would be surprised by such a discovery. The normal interpretation would be that we discovered an underglacial lake, and people would drill and find out if it's true, "Orosei said." On Mars, it's a lot harder, well. sure, because we can not actually drill in the ice. "
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Green said that a landing mission called InSight who is already en route to Mars could help provide corroborating evidence.The LG, scheduled to land in November, has a thermal probe instrument that will drill five meters into the ground and take action to This will allow scientists to create models of the heat that comes out of the planet, like a cake that cools after being cooked – and should help determine if it is plausible that the temperature can be high enough to mainteni water at this depth
Several researchers have said that it would be crucial to determine whether this stretch of water is the only one or part of an interconnected set of water. underground aquifers – in part because a network increases the possibility that it could have harbored life.
Stephen Clifford, a scientist who works at the Institute of Planetary Science, first exposed the idea that there might be some water plans under the caps Mars polar three decades ago
"It's gratifying, in the sense that I've done it was purely theoretical, and I think it's still a good thing when someone is doing it." one finds evidence that your theoretical work has some relevance to reality, "said Clifford. "This result has made the effort worthwhile – and the expectation of proof is worth it."
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