Mars has its own version of the Grand Canyon (a natural fissure caused by ongoing erosion in Arizona), and scientists have discovered that this dramatic feature is home to “large amounts of water” after a probe orbiting the Red Planet, according to the European Space Agency (ESA) probe. The results were published in the journal Icarus.
The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) was launched in 2016 as a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos, and discovered water in Valles Marineris, the region of Mars. This canyon system is 10 times longer, 5 times deeper and 20 times wider than the Grand Canyon.
The water lies below the surface of the valley system and was detected by the Micro-Resolution Neutron Detector (FREND). This instrument is capable of mapping hydrogen to nearly a meter below the surface of Mars.
Most of the water on the Red Planet is located in the polar regions and remains frozen.
Valles Marineris lies south of the “equator” Mars, where temperatures are usually not cold enough for water ice to persist.
Observations were collected by the probe between May 2018 and February 2021. Previously, other spacecraft have searched for water just below the surface of Mars and discovered small amounts under Martian dust.
“Using the Trace Gas Orbiter, we can look three feet below this layer of dirt and see what’s really going on beneath the surface of Mars — and most importantly, identify ‘oases’.” Rich in undetectable water Study author Igor Mitrofanov, FREND’s chief scientist, said in a statement.
“FREND has revealed an area with an unusually high amount of hydrogen in the massive Valles Marineris Valley system: assuming that the hydrogen we see is bound to water molecules, it appears that up to 40% of the near-surface material in this region is water.”
Just so you understand the size, this area is roughly the size of the Netherlands. It overlaps with the Candor Chaos, a network of valleys within the valley system. The FREND instrument is looking for neutrons to map the hydrogen content in Martian soil.
“We can deduce how much water is on Earth by looking at the neutrons it emits,” study co-author Alexei Malakov, chief scientist at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in a statement.
This is because “neutrons are produced when high-energy particles – known as ‘galactic cosmic rays'” – collide with Mars; drier soils emit more neutrons compared to wetter areas, he said in the same statement.
“We found a central part of Valles Marineris full of water – much more water than we expected. This is very similar to permafrost regions on Earth, where the ice comes from. water It remains permanently stable under dry soil due to the constant low temperatures. “
Malakhov said the instrument’s unique monitoring capabilities allowed the team to discover previously hidden water. It can be ice water or water bound to minerals in the soil. But scientists believe that the presence of ice is more likely because minerals in this place contain little water.
There are warmer temperatures near the equator on Mars, so researchers think there may be a special set of conditions that allow water to stay. [no local] It is being renewed.
“This discovery is a great first step, but we need more observations to know for sure what kind of water we’re dealing with,” study co-author Håkan Svedhem, a former scientist on the orbital project, said in a statement.
“The discovery demonstrates the unparalleled capabilities of TGO instruments in allowing us to ‘see’ beneath the surface of Mars – as well as revealing a large reservoir of shallow water that is easily exploitable in this Martian region.”
Future missions to Mars will land at low latitudes. This discovery in Valles Marineris highlights the appearance [do lugar] As something of interest for potential human exploration for years to come, especially since this water will be much more accessible than other previously discovered groundwater sources.
This map shows the highest concentrations of water in blue and violet as detected by the probe. /Reproduction/ESA “Knowing more about how and where water is on the planet today is essential to understanding what happened to the planet’s once abundant waters and helps us in our search for habitable environments, potential signs of past life and organic matter from the start,” said Colin Wilson, Project scientist at ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, in a statement.
I am 2022, or rover europeu rosalind franklin The Russian surface platform Kazachok will be launched and is expected to land on Mars in 2023.
The rover will drill beneath the surface of Mars for organic materials in hopes of revealing whether Mars has ever hosted life. The rover will explore the Oxia Planum, a site of exposed ancient rock rich in mud that has previously been exposed to water.
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