Scientists have discovered frozen water on Mars that could cover the entire planet

For years, space exploration has focused most of its resources on Mars. The Red Planet was thought to have optimal conditions to support life, but finding evidence to support this theory has been difficult.

Various space agencies have been trying to find this evidence for many years. Powers such as China and the US, through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) They sent a rover to Earth’s neighbor to conduct this research.

ESA discovers large amounts of frozen water on Mars

European Space Agency (ESA) has discovered a large amount of frozen water under the equator of Mars. The Mars Express, sent to the planet in 2003, already found this place 15 years ago. There he discovered huge deposits one and a half kilometers deep. However, it was not possible to determine what these deposits consisted of at that time.

ESA was able to more accurately determine the size of this discovery, and indicates that these sediments contain a huge amount of water. According to the agency, the thickness of the water turned out to be even greater than previously thought, reaching 2.3 kilometers.

“We found that the radar signals are similar to the signals we see in the polar caps of Mars, which we know are very rich in ice,” explains Thomas Watters of the Smithsonian Institution and lead author of the study.

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Important area for Mars exploration

The amount of frozen water discovered beneath the interior of Mars is so large (from 53,000 to 95,000 cubic kilometers) that If it melted, it could cover the entire planet in a layer five to nine feet deep. According to ESA, these figures may represent the largest amount of water ever discovered in this region of the planet.

News of the discovery is also important for future missions. since the amount of water, its extent and location are critical. NASA hopes to land astronauts on Mars by 2040, and if they eventually land, they will be near the planet’s equator, far from the polar ice caps and high-latitude glaciers.

However, At the moment, access to this frozen water will be difficult because it is covered with hundreds of meters of dust. “This makes them unavailable, at least for the next few decades. But every piece of ice we find helps us better understand where Martian water once flowed and where it can be found today.”– ESA explains.

Less arid past

Thanks to images of Mars, a desert-like landscape is known. Nevertheless, There are clues on the surface that indicate there was plenty of water in the distant past. Canals, dry rivers, ancient ocean floors, and valleys carved by water that once flowed through them indicate that, long ago, this was a planet more like Earth.

Given the current climate of Mars, these ice deposits could not have formed. “They must have formed in a previous climate era,” notes ESA.