Scientists may have found liquid water on Mars

Scientists have discovered a reservoir of liquid water on Mars.

The water is located 10-20 km below the rocky surface of the planet, reports BBC.

The findings come from a new analysis of data from NASA’s Mars Insight Lander. He landed on Mars in 2018. The land had a seismometer. He recorded tremors, Martian earthquakes, from deep within the planet.

Analysis of these earthquakes and how the planet moved revealed seismic signatures of liquid water.

By measuring how fast seismic waves travel, scientists have worked out what type of material they are likely to travel through.

– This is the same method we use to find water on the ground, or to find oil and gas, says Michael Manga to the BBC.

He is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, who was involved in the research.

The first discovery of liquid water

While there is frozen water at the Martian poles and evidence of steam in the atmosphere, this is the first time liquid water has been found on the planet.

The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Insight research mission ended in December 2022. By then, the lander had been listening to the “Pulse of Mars” for four years.

There were once rivers and lakes on Mars. For three billion years the planet has been a real desert. Groundwater is more than 10 km underground. That’s bad news for the billions hoping to colonize Mars.

Drilling a 10 km deep hole on Mars would be difficult, even for Elon Musk, says Manga.

As you know, billionaire Tesla has ambitions colonization of Mars.

Without water, life is not possible, Professor Manga says.

– If there are habitable environments on Mars, they must be deep underground, he says to the BBC.