In the last posts, we studied the atmosphere on mars, and the options we have for improving it. Today, I'd like to answer a basic and important question about mars. How much water is there on mars? We need to know this if we are ever planning to live there. Well, nobody on earth knows the answer. But I can tell you how much we've have found yet. So let's begin.
First, the Martian North Pole is covered entirely in water ice. The depth of this ice is about 3 km. And there is more...
Second, the south pole of mars is basically a layer of carbon dioxide ice covering a lot of water ice up to 3 km depth. The total amount of water ice on both these poles is estimated to be able to cover the entire surface of mars up to 18 feet deep. This is a huge amount of water. And there is more...
Third, the soil of mars contains water in it. Every cubic foot of soil can give about 1 litre of water. But this water is not good for drinking since it is rich in deuterium.
Deuterium is a heavier isotope of hydrogen. Its nucleus contains a neutron and a proton as opposed to normally occurring hydrogen atom which we call Protium, its nucleus has just a proton in it. Deuterium in water is harmful for us as well as all other animals and plants. Still, deuterium has its uses in nuclear energy, and finding it is good news. If by any means, deuterium is separated from these water molecules, we get nuclear energy, plus some drinking water and oxygen as well!
Now that we have searched almost everywhere on the surface of mars, it's time to see what is below it. Well, there is more water ice under the surface. And though we haven't yet started studying what is under the surface of mars, plus, though most of this is calculation rather than clear evidence, scientists think there is a lot of water yet to be discovered beneath the martian surface. The evidence for this being: the gigantic slab of ice spanning about 420 thousand square miles that was found just below the soil. Scientists say that it resulted from a snowfall that might have occurred about ten million years ago. This phenomena also suggests that their might have been many such snowfalls in the long time of three billion years, so we can definitely hope to find more sources of water. This would simplify the mars missions for humans even more.
In addition to this, calculations say there is more water ice in the form of permafrost under the surface. We will verify this perhaps in the next mars mission, which also aims to search for subsurface life on mars. Also, NASA has found little amount of liquid water flowing on the surface, although it is very salty.
Although we can't go and live on mars since it is lethal right now, we do have a lot to learn from mars. Now that we will be launching our most advanced JWST infrared telescope in 2019, we will be looking for most life supporting planets. And study of mars can help us understand that all planets with essential life supporting elements need not have life on them. Mars could have had life on its surface today, had it not lost its magnetic field, and perhaps it could have been as intelligent as us, but that is out of question now.
About ethics in this case, which is barely a concern for us, even if we find life on mars under the surface, we will only call it "our world". Then we'd put the life form in labs and/or zoos in the name of preserving them. And that life form, suddenly, has to be preserved legally, since it can't thrive while we are busy exploiting its habitat. I'm just comparing with what we are doing here on earth.
I guess "our world" means as far as we can reach, right? And in that case, our world is about to grow hell lot bigger in the next few decades, since we will be mining the moon and the asteroids as well.
Check out these references for more info:
Take Care.
Just a side note, the posts about mars are written only for education and/or entertainment purposes. The author does not want the readers to spend their time/ money/ energy to consider leaving earth for good unless they have done a thorough examination of their life choices, or if ww3 is about to begin.
