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Scientists believe their groundbreaking discovery points to several salty ponds under the ice that cover the south pole region of Mars. Liquid water is a key ingredient of life as we know it and its discovery could have important implications for scientists. According to the US space agency NASA, the search for extraterrestrial life often follows a simple principle: follow the water.
NASA said: “Liquid water is a necessity for all known life forms, with the possible exception of some plants or fungi that can survive on water vapor.
“With this in mind, scientists are eagerly looking for liquid water elsewhere than on Earth.
“If found, these places would be the most attractive places to look for an answer to the question of whether there is life beyond our home planet.”
On Monday, September 28, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced the possible discovery of three pools of water up to 0.9 miles (1.5 km) below the South Pole region.
The findings were published this week in the journal Nature Astronomy.
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The ponds were discovered by the Mars Express spacecraft, which may have discovered a similar deposit in 2018.
Elena Pettinelli from the University of Rome, a co-author of the study, said: “We identified the same body of water, but we also found three other bodies of water around the main one. It is a complex system.”
The largest of the newly discovered ponds is estimated to measure 12.4 by 18.6 miles (20 by 30 km).
The body of water is surrounded by several smaller ponds and is believed to be very salty.
A high level of salinity would allow the water to remain liquid even at very low temperatures.
John Priscu, an environmental scientist at Montana State University, said: “There is not much active life in these salty pools in Antarctica.
“They’re just pickled. And that could be the case. [on Mars]. “
The Mars Express 2018 discovery was based on 29 radar scans conducted between 2012 and 2015.
Since then, the scientists have expanded the scope of their study, taking into account 134 scans conducted between 2012 and 2019.
The scans were conducted using the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) probe.
The probe sent radio waves that bounced off the various layers of the planet.
Depending on how the waves bounced, the scientists were able to identify different materials such as rock, ice, and water.
The scientists found a series of highly reflective layers, which they believe to be water trapped underground.
But this interpretation has been questioned by some scientists who are not convinced that salt water can survive so deep below the surface.
Jack Holt, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, said: “I don’t think there are lakes. There is not enough heat flow to support a brin here, even under the ice sheet.”
And Mike Sori, a planetary geophysicist at Purdue University, said, “If the glowing material really is liquid water, I think it’s more likely to represent some kind of mud or mud.”
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