Scientists believe they have found liquid water on Mars

A body of liquid water buried between layers of ice and dust at the South Pole of Mars was found

The discovery was made by the European Space Agency (ESA) using radar data collected during the Mars Express mission. Although the mission has been ongoing since 2003, it is the strongest evidence that liquid water exists even on the red planet.

All this has been possible using MARSIS in a vast advanced Mars radar for underground and ionospheric sounding. , which is housed in the Mars Express orbiter.

Scientists believe that this luminous reflection, found within 1.5 km of layers of ice and dust, is an interface between water in solid state and a stable body of liquid water. So that MARSIS can find it, it would be necessary that the body has a thickness of tens of centimeters.

According to the BBC, the research team estimates that temperatures in this area are around -10º and -30º Celsius, or lower than the normal temperature of solidification of water. In order to remain in the liquid state, the team believes that the water contains several salts in its composition, so that it does not freeze.

Because of this hypothetical presence of salt, the probability of living in this water is almost remote. However, there are some forms of microbial life that thrive in subglacial and salty environments on Earth, so this is not impossible.

These results come after last month that NASA found evidence that there was life on Mars

Pedro Ferreira is content producer for IGN Portugal. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram