MARS – UNDERGROUND LAKE?

Researchers claim that they have found a lake of underground water on Mars.  Now we need to question whether or not there is actual life in this lake water.  The lake measures approximately 12.5 miles (20KM) wide and about 1 mile (1.5KM) below the surface according to a study at the National Institute of Astrophysics in Bologna.

With this find we can finally put to rest the long-debated existence of liquid on Mars which is a key condition in the exitance of life.  We have known for a long time that the planet used to have rivers and oceans of water billions of years ago.  This is based on the flow patterns on the planets surface.  Recently there has been a discovery of ice in the polar regions and water vapors in the planet’s thin atmosphere.  Back in 2008 NASA’S Phoenix Module registered water droplets and possible snow falling on the planet.  These small amounts of water may start to build up in a thin layer below the surface.

Information gathered by the Mars Express Mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) shows a region close to the south pole where the hidden lake was spotted.  Researchers relied on the data provided by a uniformed radar signature to find this hidden lake.  Scientists were able to map the outlines of the lake with 29 sets of radar samplings.  The samplings showed a sharp change in the radar signal.  The radar also shows that the lakes look similar to the ice sheets found in the Antarctic and Greenland on Earth suggesting that this area on Mars is where the lake is located underground.

Too cold for a swim

It is believed that the temperature of the water is way too cold to go for a swim – estimated to be   -90.4F (68C) which suggests that the lake has a large salt content that changes the freezing point.

NASA’S Curiosity rover while on the Mars found the presence of organic molecules but does not prove that life exists.  It does suggest that the environment might be possible for habitable life on the neighboring planet.

We might be able to send humans to Mars sometime in the 2030s but for the time being NASA is working on getting humans to an asteroid near Mars by the year 2025.