Water on Mars

Facts and figures

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun in the solar system. It is called the ‘red planet’ because its ground consists of red rusty iron. It is 4220 miles in diameter. It orbits 14.5 miles per second. Moreover, The year on Mars is longer than it is on Earth. It is 687 Earth days. Its atmosphere consists mostly of carbon dioxide and water vapor. The temperature there is -81 degrees F/-63 degrees C. Another interesting fact about Mars is that it has two moons.

Water on Mars: the old theory vs the new theory

Researchers and scientists have always wanted to find evidence of life on planets other than the Earth. They suspected there is life on Mars when they discovered water there. In 2008, it was first announced that water ice covers certain parts of Mars especially the south pole region. Research confirms that almost a third of the surface of Mars was covered by water in the past, whereas nowadays it seems like a desert because it is cold and dry. It was once a warm planet and had water bodies like lakes, seas and rivers on its surface, but where is this water now? Why did it disappear?

An old theory pointed out that the water on Mars escaped into space. What is left now is just ice on the surface. The escape of its water into space happened due to several reasons. First, researchers said dust storms contributed to the escape of water into space. Those storms swept away water from the surface into space over millions of years. Another reason for this escape goes to lack of atmosphere. It was denser in the past and temperatures were higher, but the sun’s radiation helped strip away the planet’s atmosphere. Researchers said what prove this theory is that they found traces of water vapor in the atmosphere.

On the other hand, a new theory rose to the surface in the past few years. This theory says that water is trapped under the surface of Mars. In 2018, the European Space Agency declared that a liquid salt water lake was discovered under the ice at south pole. It was not until then that a body of liquid water was reported to exist. They explained it is the high concentrations of salt that kept the water liquid. In other words, it is the salt that prevented the water from freezing and turning into ice similar to the frozen glaciers on the surface. Later in 2020, three more lakes appeared around the first one and they spread over 75000 square kilometers. These lakes are believed to be the remnants or leftovers of what was once seas or lakes on the Martian surface.

The possibility of life on Mars

This new discovery brought excitement and hope to find evidence of life on Mars. Some scientists strongly believe that life could have been present there in the past. However, the question is: can life exist in salty water 20 times that of sea water? There is a controversy about that point. In addition, another fundamental question is raised: can life exist in extreme cold conditions such as the ones of the south pole? Also, can we expect life in the subsurface lakes under ice?

Conclusion

Some questions are not yet answered but there is huge research being carried out to know more about Mars. Three missions landed their rovers early in 2021 in an attempt to understand and explore more. This indicates the huge interest in the red planet as it could be the solution to humanity.

 
Keywords: Mars, water on Mars