NASA discovers liquid water on Mars, but could there be life too?
For the first time, NASA scientists have discovered liquid water on Mars with the help of the Mars Insight Lander. The discovery of a "bubble" of water deep beneath the planet’s surface offers new possibilities for the Red Planet's history, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
From 2018 to 2022, the Mars Insight Lander spacecraft captured data on the internal structure of the Red Planet, which facilitated the discovery. Through data analysis a "bubble" of liquid water was found at a depth of 10 to 20 kilometers beneath the surface of Mars
The Mars Insight Lander instrument enabled scientists to ascertain the structure of Mars' layers by recording seismic vibrations that passed the Martian crust. This approach is comparable to the one employed on Earth to locate underground deposits of hydrocarbon, gas, or water.
In addition, scientists note that conditions previously existed on Mars that were favorable for liquid water. According to Mark Manga, a professor of planetary science at the University of California, Berkeley, the surface of Mars once had rivers, deltas, lake deposits, and rocks altered by water. This “wet period” ended more than 3 billion years ago after Mars lost its atmosphere.
Professor Manga also explained the possibility of life on Mars in light of this discovery.
“Establishing that there is a big reservoir of liquid water provides some window into what the climate was like or could be like,” said Manga.
“Water is necessary for life as we know it. I don’t see why [the underground reservoir] is not a habitable environment. It’s certainly true on Earth — deep, deep mines host life, the bottom of the ocean hosts life. We haven’t found any evidence for life on Mars, but at least we have identified a place that should, in principle, be able to sustain life,” he explained.
It is important to acknowledge that water was previously discovered on Mars; however, it was only present in the form of ice at the poles or residual vapor in the atmosphere. Nevertheless, the new discoveries have a profound impact on the concept of the planet’s water reserves. NASA scientists hypothesize that there may be additional "bubbles" of water and that they may be situated in other regions of the planet.
