Researchers have long felt that Mars was once home to several rivers, lakes, and perhaps even oceans.
But while they have been able to detect ice, and some salty lakes, in the planet’s polar regions, finding water in other areas has proved elusive. Now, scientists have finally found evidence of a large water reservoir just a few feet below the surface of the Red Planet’s Valles Marineris canyon system.
Located along the equator of Mars, the Valles Marineris is one of the Solar System’s largest canyons.
The massive tectonic chasm measures over 2,500 miles (4,023 kilometres) long and 5 miles (8 km) deep. NASA estimates that if the Valles Marineris were on Earth, it would stretch across the continental United States — all the way from New York to California.
The discovery was made using data collected by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which has been circling the Red Planet since 2018.
TGO, a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), is designed to detect the presence of gases such as methane and water vapor in the Martian atmosphere.
The scientists, who revealed their findings in a press statement on December 15, 2021, believe the water is in the form of ice.
If true, it could make up as much as 40 percent of the area’s near-surface material. However, FREND could also be detecting water that is chemically bound to minerals in the soil.
The team plans to analyse more data to determine the water’s form. Regardless of the outcome, they believe the discovery is a game-changer for potential human missions to the Red Planet.
Source: DOGO News
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