NASA claim of water reservoirs on Mars sparks debate
The American space agency NASA Monday claimed evidence of liquid water reservoirs underneath the Mars surface, sparking a debate about the possiblity of human life on the Red Planet
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Washington: The American space agency NASA Monday claimed evidence of liquid water reservoirs underneath the Mars surface, sparking a debate about the possiblity of human life on the Red Planet.
NASA made the claim based on a new analysis of data from Mars Insight Lander, which touched down on the Red Planet back in 2018.
The lander carried a seismometer, which recorded four years' of vibrations - Mars quakes - from deep inside the Red Planet, according to BBC.
The water – in fractures 11.5km (7.15 miles) to 20km beneath the surface – was most likely to have collected there billions of years ago when Mars harboured rivers, lakes and possibly oceans, according to the lead scientist, Vashan Wright of the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
“On Earth, what we know is where it is wet enough and there are enough sources of energy, there is microbial life very deep in Earth’s subsurface,” Wright said.
“The ingredients for life as we know it exist in the Martian subsurface, if these interpretations are correct”, he added.
While there is water frozen at the Martian poles and evidence of vapour in the atmosphere, this is the first time liquid water has been found on the planet.
The latest discovery of water on Mars has sparked a debate with space explorers discussing if life on the Red Planet is possible.
Talking to Al Jazeera, Amitabha Ghosh, a space scientist who has worked with NASA, said:
“So we just need water in some form for human existence as well as making rocket fuel,” said Ghosh.
Billionaire Elon Musk has been striving to colonise Mars for over a decade under SpaceX, his rocket company.
“Elon Musk is making a Starship which can carry 200 people to Mars in six months. It’s all coming together,” Ghosh told the Doha based broadcaster.
The SpaceX website deems Mars one of Earth’s closest habitable neighbours.
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