Nationalgeographic.co.id—In 2018 spaceship Mars Express from the European Space Agency probes the red planet’s polar caps with instruments Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS).
The orbiter detected a bright spot on radar measurements, hinting at a large body of liquid water beneath 1.5 kilometers of solid ice that could be home to living organisms.
Subsequent work found hints of additional ponds around the basin Lake main. However, the planetary science community has always doubted its existence Lake. Because, Lake requires some kind of continuous geothermal heating to maintain subglacial conditions.
Under the ice, the average temperature is 68° Celsius, well past the freezing point of water which lowers the freezing point of water. Even if Lake is salt water that contains a healthy amount of salt. An underground magma pool will be needed to keep the area liquid.
“If not liquid water, is there anything else that could explain the bright radar reflections we see?” asked planetary scientist Carver Bierson of Arizona State University on the page Science News.
In research published in Geophysical Research Letters, Bierson and colleagues describe several other substances that could explain reflection. Radar reflection depends on the electrical conductivity of the material through which the radar signal passes.
Water has fairly distinctive radar signatures, but examination of the electrical properties of clay minerals and frozen brine reveals that these materials can mimic these signals.
The 2018 findings from the MARSIS data focused only on a small section of the southern ice sheet. However, now a three-dimensional map of the entire south pole has been constructed, where hundreds to thousands of additional bright spots appear.
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“We found bright spots literally all over the region,” said planetary scientist Aditya Khuller of Arizona State University. “This sign isn’t unique. We see it in places where we expect it to be very cold.”
The lakes, if there were any, would likely be very cold and contain as much as 50 percent salt. That is, a condition in which no known organism on Earth can survive.
Also Read: NASA’s Next Big Challenge? Washing Clothes in Space
ESA / DLR / FU Berlin
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This image shows what looks like a large patch of fresh, unspoiled snow. This is known as the Korolev crater, found on Mars, and shown here in exquisite detail as seen by Mars Express. Is this snow real?
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Laboratory work exploring how substances react to conditions in the south polar ice cap Mars. The results may help further as to what produces the brightest radar point, Bierson said.
Since 1993, humans have been trying to explore the planet Mars through Mars Exploration Program (MEP). It was a long-term effort to explore Mars, funded and led by NASA.
MEP has made use of orbital spacecraft, landers, and explorers Mars to explore the possibilities of life in Mars, and the climate of the planet and its natural resources.
The program is managed by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate by Doug McCuistion of the Division of Planetary Sciences.
As a result of a 40 percent cut in NASA’s budget for the 2013 fiscal year, Mars The Program Planning Group (MPPG) was formed to help reformulate the MEP. Additionally the program brings together NASA technology, science, human missions, and science mission leaders.
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