Scientists Discover a 12 Mile-Wide Body of Liquid Water on Mars
Scientists determined almost definitively that a lake of liquid water exists below the surface of Mars, confirming the long-standing belief that the red planet was once home to massive oceans, and even the possibility that life thrived there. The Mars Express satellite and its MARSIS system discovered the 12.4 mile-wide lake below the planet’s surface by shooting pulses of radar near the planet’s ice caps.
Similar to pockets of subglacial water in Antarctica, the polar ice caps provide pressure and a layer of insulation from the planet’s harsh climate, lowering the melting point and keeping it from freezing. In a paper published in the journal Science, researchers noted that the lake likely consists of more of a briney sludge than a pool of liquid water, the way we’d imagine it on Earth. The temperature where it’s located is a frigid negative 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
The pool is about a mile below ground and according to one scientist involved in the study, contains “a serious quantity of water, on the order of millions of liters.”
MARSIS, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding system is only able to detect large bodies of water, meaning a multitude of smaller pockets could exist elsewhere throughout the planet, adding to the possibility that life there was once common.
Radar imaging of the body of water near Martian ice caps
The discovery is huge for the prospect of sending a manned mission and eventually colonizing the red planet. The availability of liquid water not only provides a source for humans to drink, it is also a necessary ingredient for manufacturing rocket fuel.
But for those who have been studying the strange anomalies on the planet, including the Face of Cydonia, pyramids, and seemingly artificial features, this discovery is just a drop in the bucket of a much larger disclosure regarding life on the red planet. These abnormalities have led many to believe an ancient civilization may have once existed there before its atmosphere was eventually destroyed by a nuclear winter. Whether that cataclysm was man made or due to a cosmic event has also been debated.
Researchers like Richard Hoagland and Mike Bara believe NASA is withholding current evidence of life on Mars, and the latest announcement has been made numerous times in the past, dating back to discoveries made by the Phoenix lander in 2008.
With recent evidence that NASA accidentally destroyed organic matter collected by the Viking probes 40 years ago, it wouldn’t be a surprise to discover that it has already found evidence of life there.
Watch this Conscious Media interview in which Regina Meredith discusses the possibility of life on Mars with Richard C. Hoagland:
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Decades After Landing on Mars, We May Find Proof of Past Life
After 25 years of rovers landing on Mars, many are looking forward to the next chapter of Mars exploration, which may include excavating deep into the red planet. In July 1997, NASA’s Pathfinder landed on Mars and began its mission to demonstrate how a robotic rover would land on the red planet.
Using an innovative design, the rover landed on Mars with a parachute and a series of giant airbags to cushion its blow. The Carl Sagan memorial station and the Sojourner Rover outlived their projected lifespan, and in the years following sent magnificent images back to Earth.
The lander returned more than 16,500 images and the rover sent back 550 more, in addition to chemical analyses of rocks, soil, and data on wind and weather. The final transmission from the Mars Pathfinder was on September 27, 1997, but the data it provided helped scientists to conclude Mars was once wet and warm, and rounded rocks on the surface indicate they may have been worn down by running water, and if there was water, there could have been life.
Flash forward to today, NASA’s Perseverance Rover, on the red planet since February of 2021, is tasked with finding past or present life and seeing if humans could one day explore or colonize Mars.
