To examine and analyze the solar system beyond our planet, one significant factor is the skill to find out water. By finding it can be used for drinking and for developing rocket fuel. Also, to help in the search for water on neighboring Mars, NASA has launched a “treasure map” of possible ice water places on the Red Planet. A team of researchers made the map of the Martian ground, which displays where water ice is thought to be placed.
Moreover, in some areas, the ice is found in little quantities, about 2.5 centimeters under the surface. Such a fact makes it easily accessible to future travelers. On the map, it could be seen cool colors that determine the ice closer to the surface, while warm colors indicate the presence of the ice deeper down.
NASA Identified Ice Water Under the Surface of Mars
Sylvain Piqueux of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory explained in a post: “You wouldn’t need a backhoe to dig up this ice. You could use a shovel. […] continuing to collect data on buried ice on Mars, zeroing in on the best places for astronauts to land.” Identifying ice is significant to activate human-crewed missions to the planet, and could support locating sites for projects such as SpaceX’s planned Mars base. Water is considerably heavy to carry aboard rockets, so discovered it on Mars will help humans to live there.
However, due to the planet’s thin atmosphere, most amounts of water on the surface evaporates at a fast rate. Researchers determined that looking below the Martian ground is the best chance of discovering accessible ice water. There is also hope for liquid water beneath the polar ice covers. With this latest map, researchers possess a blueprint for where to begin future missions and projects, and ultimately, to send astronauts to Mars.
As our second lead editor, Anna C. Mackinno provides guidance on the stories Great Lakes Ledger reporters cover. She has been instrumental in making sure the content on the site is clear and accurate for our readers. If you see a particularly clever title, you can likely thank Anna. Anna received a BA and and MA from Fordham University.