Recently, the space probe of the European Space Agency (ESA) made an extraordinary discovery on the planet Mars. Studies by the Mars Express mission, which has been studying the planet for two decades, have revealed the presence of an impressive amount of water, enough to cover Mars in an ocean between 1,5 and 2,7 meters deep. This article explores the details and implications of this amazing discovery.
Mars Express identified a large amount of water in the form of dusty ice located below the Martian equator. This is the largest ice storage discovered so far in this region of the planet. The detected ice is buried deep, about 3,7 km below the surface, and is covered by a layer of hardened ash and dry dust hundreds of meters thick. Interestingly, the ice is not pure, being heavily contaminated with dust.
ESA Announces Incredible Discovery on Mars Thanks to the Mars Express Probe
The presence of ice near the equator makes this region more accessible for future manned missions. However, the depth at which the ice is located presents certain difficulties in accessing it. The MFF Formation, located at the boundary between the northern highlands and southern plains of Mars, has been identified as a major source of dust. The MFF is believed to have formed about 3 billion years ago from lava flows and was covered by volcanic ash.
Implications for Martian Climate: The presence of subsurface ice at low and equatorial latitudes suggests that the climate of Mars was very different in the past. This raises interesting questions about how long these ice deposits formed and the conditions on Mars at the time.
The discovery made by ESA represents an important step in understanding the history and climatology of the planet Mars. This not only brings new information about the planet's water resources, but also opens up new possibilities for space exploration and the study of living conditions on other planets. With each new discovery, Mars continues to be a fascinating subject of research and an intriguing destination for future space missions.
