On July 25th 2018, a team of researchers from Italy announced in the Journal Science, that they have found what they believe to an underground reservoir of water on Mars. Using the European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter, which is orbit around Mars, the researchers say that the possible underground lake is near Mars' south pole, in the Planum Australe region. The Mars Express's radar revealed that the underground lake is about 12 miles wide and at least one mile deep.
While water has been detected on Mars before, this marks the first time that a sizable body of it has been detected. Water is essential for life, but the researchers are confident that this new find does not present such a possibility. One reason is because the lake is in the polar region, and the water temperature is believed to be minus 92 to minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, which is far below the freezing point of water. Another is that the water stays in liquid form due to a very high salt content.
No comments:
Post a Comment