A space probe has found something interesting under Mars’ “Grand Canyon”. The professional world could hardly believe it.
Frankfurt – There is water on Mars, especially at the poles, and this is well known. But now researchers have made a groundbreaking new discovery on the Red Planet: a large amount of water in an area called Valles Marineris (Mariner Valley).
It is a large fault system that stretches 4,000 km long and 700 km wide and has valleys to a depth of 7,000 m. The system is also called Mars’ “Grand Canyon” and is the focus of new discoveries.
To find water in the Grand Canyon on Mars, the researchers evaluated data from the European-Russian Gas Orbiter Trace (TGO), which has been orbiting the Red Planet since October 2016. The probe contains the FREND (external neutron detector) instrument. Precision Resolution) on board, which can see up to a meter below the Martian surface and detect hydrogen – a component of water.
Esa is exploring Mars with the Trace Gas Orbiter, among others. (icon image)
© Imago / UIG
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Look Under Mars: Tracking the ‘Oasis Rich in Water’
Igor Mitrofanov, of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow is the lead author of a new study describing the discovery of water on Mars and Published in the special magazine Icarus Will.
With the help of the FREND instrument, the researchers were able to detect areas of “extremely high hydrogen content” in the Valles Marineris Valley system, Mitrofanov reports in a communication from the European Space Organization ESA.
| JM Marineris | Rift Valley System on Mars |
|---|---|
| position | at the equator |
| Long | 4000 km |
| wide | Up to 700 km |
| Depth | up to 7000 meters |
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They found a large amount of water in the “Grand Canyon of Mars”
“Assuming that the hydrogen we see is bound to a water molecule, forty percent of the near-surface material in this region appears to be water,” the researchers summarized the discovery on Mars. The area where scientists suspect the water is said to be the size of the Netherlands and extends into deep valleys in an area called Candor Chaus.
To detect water on Mars, Mitrofanov and other scientists evaluated observations from May 2018 to February 2021. The FREND instrument did not detect light, but neutrons. “Neutrons are generated when high-energy particles known as galactic cosmic rays strike Mars,” explains co-author Alexei Malakhov. Dry soil emits more neutrons than wet soil, so it is possible to infer how much water is in the soil. Because FREND allows better spatial resolution than other instruments, it is now possible to detect water that has never been observed before.
Water on Mars: Researchers evaluate data from European explorers around Mars
“We found that the center of Valles Marineris is filled with water — far more water than we expected,” Malakhov asserts, comparing the findings to land: “This is similar to permafrost areas on Earth where water ice is the result of continuous subsidence. continuously. temperature below ground is dry.” Water can exist as ice or as water that is chemically bound to other minerals in the soil. “In general, we think that this water is more present in the form of ice,” said Malakhov, summarizing the research team’s findings.
In regions of Mars where researchers have found water, water ice typically evaporates under conditions of temperature and pressure; The same is true for chemically bonded water: only with the right combination of pressure, temperature, and water will the minerals on Mars lose water. This suggests that in Valles Marineris there must be a special mix of conditions to conserve water – or to replenish it, according to Esa’s announcement.
JM Marineris on Mars. The researchers found large deposits of water there.
© DLR / dpa
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Mars research: ‘An incredible first step’
Håkan Svedhem, study co-author and Esa employee, is already looking to the future: “These findings are a great first step, but we need more observations to know for sure what the water looks like.” , the “Trace Gas Orbiter” instrumentation capability, which shows “a large, not too deep and easily accessible water reservoir in this region of Mars.”
The “Trace Gas Orbiter”, which has been orbiting Mars since 2016, is the first part of the European-Russian ExoMars program. The second part is a launch to the Red Planet in 2022: European rover Rosalind Franklin sits on the Russian “Kazachok” platform and is supposed to find out if there is life on Mars.
He’s not alone in this task: NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rover is taking over the task as well. The recent “Perseverance” Mars probe caused quite a stir: first solving “one of the greatest mysteries” on Mars, then answering the question about Mars that researchers have been waiting for so far. (tab)
Title list image: © Imago / UIG
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