A team of scientists from the University of California San Diego and University of California Berkeley published a scholarly paper revealing the presence of “liquid water” beneath the surface of Mars.
Previously, scientists had discovered ice near the poles of Mars and traces of liquid water on the surface of Mars around 3 billion years ago, but it was believed to have evaporated into space. The crucial question now remains – is there still water beneath the Martian surface?
This research leveraged data from NASA’s Mars Insight Lander mission conducted on Mars between 2018-2022. The lander used a seismometer to record over 1,319 instances of ground vibrations on Mars.
Analysis of these ground vibrations data revealed that there is water present deep underground on Mars, approximately 10-20 kilometers beneath the Martian crust. This discovery of liquid water on Mars could be a promising sign for establishing human colonies on the red planet. However, the challenge lies in accessing water from such deep layers.
Source: Full paper “Liquid water in the Martian mid-crust”, BBC.
TLDR: Recent research indicates the presence of liquid water deep beneath the Martian surface, raising hope for potential human settlements on Mars in the future.
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