For its first billion or so years, Mars was partly covered in water, as dry ocean basins and riverbeds on its surface now attest. But three billion years ago the planet lost its magnetic field, possibly due to a cooling of its core, allowing the solar wind to strip away its atmosphere. This, so the thinking went, caused the water to evaporate into space.
However, according to a new study, it appears that the water may still be there, trapped in the pores of volcanic rock.
However, according to a new study, it appears that the water may still be there, trapped in the pores of volcanic rock.
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00:00So the purpose of the InSight mission was to learn about the evolution of Mars as a planet.
00:06When did the crust form, how thick is the crust, how did it differentiate, etc.
00:11For work that I've been a part of, the most interesting finding is this present one,
00:16that there is large amounts of liquid water in the subsurface of the planet itself.
00:24So the liquid water is roughly 11 to 20 kilometers beneath the subsurface,
00:30and getting that liquid water would be quite challenging. For example, on Earth,
00:35you often have to circulate fluids, whether that be liquid water or mud,
00:40to make drilling a little bit easier. You also need the power
00:44capabilities and you need to bring those things on Mars or make them on the planet.
00:50So that would be really challenging. Finding water in a liquid form on Mars is important
00:57because water affects just about everything about a planet's evolution.
01:02In Mars, we get to see a water cycle without humans.
01:06We know that water is a key ingredient for life as we know it, and it means that
01:13it's potentially habitable in the mid-crust of Mars.
01:18So there's just so much to learn when you know where the water went.
01:22Mars once looked like Earth three billion years ago, and now it doesn't.
01:26It's dry and it's desolate. So a big question is, where is the water?
01:30Where did it go? So finding it there,
01:35in the volumes that we found it, is really important and exciting.