Researchers say they are conducting research to understand what happened to the waters that once abounded on the Red Planet.
Foto: ESA / Handout / Getty Images
New data from the FREND Fine Resolution Epidermal Neutron Detector, which helps map hydrogen on Mars, from ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and the Russian agency Roscosmos. Discover “large amounts of water” in the 3,000-kilometre Valles Marineris Valley, the largest known valley in the solar system, About ten times longer and five times deeper than Earth’s Grand Canyon.
After detecting an unusually high amount of hydrogen in an area the size of the Netherlands in the heart of Valles Marineris, researchers now say 40% of the material near the surface of this 41,000 square kilometer area could be water ice or rich in water. minerals, potentially offering a new way to identify precious materials in a seemingly very dry world.
Trace Gas Orbital (TGO)
With TGO, scientists can Look up to a meter below this layer of dust and see what is really happening under the surface of Mars, and above all, Identification of “oases” rich in water that could not be discovered with previous tools“, Igor Mitrofanov, from the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow (Russia) said., in a press release.
“We found that A central part of Valles Marineris is full of water“There is much more water than we expected,” said study co-author Alexei Malakhov, a scientist at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. “This is very similar to permafrost regions on Earth, where water ice persists permanently under dry soil due to constant low temperatures,” he added.
In search of water that was abundant on the surface of Mars
The discovery represents exciting possibilities for Mars exploration. No wonder that in the future manned missions to Mars may encounter water not far from the surface, at least near the equator. Thus, the current discovery is added to the various discoveries that reveal secrets that the barren red planet may not hide.
This was confirmed by an October article in Science Jezero Crater on Mars was once a lake. Images sent back by NASA helped with the discovery. Last year, further research work showed the presence of three aquifers at the south pole of the red planet.
“Knowing more about how and where water is on Mars today is essential to understanding what happened to the water that provided on Mars, and helps us search for habitable environments, possible signs of past life, and early organic matter during the Martian days,” said Colin Wilson, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Project Scientist.
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