Snow on Mars is dustier than its counterpart on Earth

A new space study has found that the snow on Mars is dustier than that on Earth, which could mean it’s hotter and more likely to dissolve in water.

Using data collected by NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander space probe, as well as computer simulations, researchers were able to determine that the snow on Mars is darker than on Earth due to higher levels of dust on the planet.

It turns out that this snow can melt and turn into water, under the right conditions. Since Earth’s oceans are teeming with life, according to NASA, the presence of liquid water on any body in the solar system indicates that it may have once been a hotbed of life or may still be.

A previous study suggested that there may be more water on the Red Planet than previously thought, including dozens of lakes located less than a mile below the Red Planet’s surface.

Scientists believe the ice, collected by Phoenix Lander in 2008, came from snowfall over the past million years.

Characterizing these properties can dramatically improve models of ice stability on Mars and inform us of its age and origin, the researchers wrote in the study.

And last month, the NASA spacecraft began its science missions, searching for ancient fossilized signs of life. In 2018, scientists confirmed that Mars still had lakes filled with liquid water.