Category Archives: Mars

By NASA // October 4, 2020

(NASA) The process of building landing pads, habitats, and roads on the Moon will likely look different than the common construction site on Earth.

Excavation robots, for one, will need to be lightweight yet capable of digging in reduced gravity.

A large-scale construction system could be autonomous and equipped to work without astronauts help.

As part of the Artemis program, NASA has a concept for the core surface elements needed to establish a sustained presence on the Moon, which emphasizes mobility to allow astronauts to explore more and conduct more science.

NASA is considering putting in place a lunar terrain vehicle, habitable mobility platform or lunar RV, and surface habitat on the Moon by the end of the decade.

The agency is investing in advanced manufacturing one of five industries of the future to enable space exploration and improve life on Earth including technologies that could find and use available resources on the Moon and Mars to build out future infrastructure.

Today, NASA is working with ICON, a construction technologies company based in Austin, Texas, on early research and development of a space-based construction system that could support future exploration of the Moon and Mars.

The company has 3D printed communities of homes and structures on Earth and participated in NASAs 3D Printed Habitat Challenge, demonstrating a construction method and technologies that may be adaptable for applications beyond our home planet.

Image provided by ICON, which is working with NASAs Moon to Mars Autonomous Construction Technologies project.

ICON illustration of a conceptual lunar base with 3D printed infrastructure, including landing pads and habitats.

Another U.S. government agency is interested in the technology and its applications here on Earth. The U.S. Air Force awarded ICON a dual-use Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to expand 3D printing of livable and workable structures.

Part of the contract, which NASA contributed funding to, will explore commonalities between Earth-based and off-Earth applications. ICON will also invest in the effort.

Joining forces and cost-sharing among multiple government agencies allows us to accelerate the development timeline and bring the core capabilities that we have a common interest in to fruition sooner, said Werkheiser.

Together, we will help mature technologies that will have benefits for humanity on Earth and in space.

We want to increase the technology readiness level and test systems to prove it would be feasible to develop a large-scale 3D printer that could build infrastructure on the Moon or Mars, said Corky Clinton, associate director of Marshalls Science and Technology Office.

The team will use what we learn from the tests with the lunar simulant to design, develop, and demonstrate prototype elements for a full-scale additive construction system.

Based on the progress, NASA could award ICON additional funding and explore the opportunity of an in-situ test on the lunar surface.

From the very founding of ICON, weve been thinking about off-world construction, said Jason Ballard, co-founder and CEO of ICON.

I am confident that learning to build on other worlds will also provide the necessary breakthroughs to solve housing challenges we face on this world. These are mutually reinforcing endeavors. Sometimes, for the biggest problems, it becomes necessary to look up at the sky and not only down at our feet.

The SBIR award will build on ICONs commercial activities and demonstrations during Phase 3 of NASAs 3D Printed Habitat Challenge.

For the challenge, ICON partnered with the Colorado School of Mines in Golden.

The team won a prize for 3D printing a structure sample that adequately held a seal when filled with water.

It is rewarding to see past NASA challenge competitors go on to work with the government in other ways, said Amy Kaminski, the program executive for prizes and challenges at NASA.

It shows our approach of reaching out to groups outside of the traditional aerospace sector to solve challenges facing us in space and on Earth can result in unique collaborations to further NASAs technology development efforts.

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NASA Looks to Use 3D Printing Construction for Future Infrastructure on Mars and the Moon - SpaceCoastDaily.com

The path that ExoMars 2022 will follow to reach the Red Planet is set. The trajectory that will take the spacecraft from Earth to Mars in 264 days foresees a touchdown on the martian surface on June 10, 2023, at around 17:30 CEST (15:30 UTC). Credit: ESA

The path that ExoMars 2022 will follow to reach the Red Planet is set. The trajectory that will take the spacecraft from Earth to Mars in 264 days foresees a touchdown on the Martian surface on June 10, 2023, at around 17:30 CEST (15:30 UTC).

The weather at Mars, the type of launcher, and the laws of physics governing the planets determined a 12-day launch window starting on September 20, 2022.

Efficient orbital transfers, good communications, and no large dust storms on the martian horizon make the chosen trajectory the fastest and safest choice.

When confronted with how to get to Mars, European and Russian teams have to juggle many factors. The mission analysis team at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Germany took into account the performance of Russias Proton launcher to identify a number of possible trajectories.

Once a spacecraft is released from the rocket that boosts it into orbit, the spotlight is onto the men and women controlling the mission from the main control room of ESAs European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. Credit: ESA/J. Mai

We had several transfer trajectories to choose from and a spacecraft already built for the trip, says Mattia Mercolino, ExoMars principal systems engineer. These variables imposed on us constraints linked to power, temperature thresholds, and orientation towards Earth during the first stages of the flight, among others.

Being able to communicate with the spacecraft also played a major role.

One of the alternatives had a longer launch window, but a worse connection with the spacecraft during the first days. This choice was too risky, especially when you want to have full control at the beginning of the mission, explains Tiago Loureiro, ExoMars spacecraft operations manager.

Overview of the ExoMars program timeline. Credit: ESA

The final trajectory takes a bit longer one week more and the launch sequence requires more maneuvers, but this wasnt only about earthly constraints. We needed to understand the challenges unique to our destination. Mars orbital characteristics and dust storms were crucial to our decision, says Tiago.

Dust storms are frequent on Mars, but also difficult to predict. Seasons play a role, with stormy weather more likely to happen during the spring and summer in the southern hemisphere. ExoMars landing site is Oxia Planum, located in the northern hemisphere.

Threatening global-scale dust storms tend to happen approximately every ten years. The most recent one was in 2018.

Oxia Planum close up. This image was taken by MROs high resolution camera HiRISE and shows a relatively flat surface in this region. Images like these have been used in the assessment of the various landing site candidates. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Although ExoMars will land outside the dust storm season, a build-up of dust on the solar panels will reduce power supply and could even force a temporary shutdown of ESAs Rosalind Franklin rover and the Russian surface platform, dubbed Kazachok.

We went through a number of studies and tests to ensure that all systems would survive with reduced sunlight upon the late afternoon landing, and during surface operations the following weeks, adds Tiago.

European scientists want to operate the rover on Mars for as long as possible. Rosalind Franklin can cope with regional dust storms for a few days and with layers of fine dust covering its solar panels.

A global dust storm that blankets the atmosphere for several months would most likely result in the death of the rover, warns Jorge Vago, ESAs ExoMars rover project scientist.

That is why it is so important to achieve most of the mission objectives before the problematic dust season starts, he adds.

It took the teams at ESOC a few months of work to narrow down the final launch date and trajectory to Mars. The whole challenge is fantastic I think I have the best job in the world, says Tiago.

Launching a spacecraft, shooting it across the Solar System, hoping it lands in one piece, deploying it, driving it on Mars And we will do all of this without the luxury of interacting with the spacecraft or the rover in real time, he explains.

Engineers at Thales Alenia Space Turin, Italy, work on the ExoMars carrier module integrated with the Russian surface platform, dubbed Kazachok. Credit: Thales Alenia Space

Sending the first European rover to Mars requires true teamwork. Each and every command has been carefully planned together with the Russian partners, involving several control centers and countries.

ESA will control the communications between Rosalind Franklin and the Kazachok surface platform during their first days on Mars. As part of the ExoMars program, the Trace Gas Orbiter, which has been circling Mars for nearly four years, will serve as a data relay platform to support communications.

A few weeks after landing, and only when the surface platform is safe and able to operate independently, ESA will hand over the control of Kazachok to Roscosmos.

The ExoMars program is a joint endeavor between the Roscosmos State Corporation and ESA. Apart from the 2022 mission, it includes the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) launched in 2016. The TGO is already both delivering important scientific results obtained by its own Russian and European science instruments and relaying data from NASAs Curiosity Mars rover and InSight lander. The module will also relay the data from the ExoMars 2022 mission once it arrives on Mars.

Read more:

ExoMars 2022: The Way Forward to Mars - SciTechDaily

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Brian Ottum caught the moon and Mars on October 2, 2020. In this photo, Mars is the tiny dot in the upper right. He wrote: I took this from my remote control telescope located in the New Mexico desert. Cloudy here in Michigan, so am happy to see it virtually.'

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman caught the moon just after full with Mars nearby, on October 2, 2020, from Tucson, Arizona. In this photo, Mars is in the upper left. He wrote: The moon and Mars were really beautiful.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Marcelo Barbosa in Texas captured this telescopic image of Mars on September 27, 2020. Mars will reach its once-in-2-years opposition on October 13. Thats when Earth will pass between Mars and the sun, bringing the planet closest to us for this 2-year period. Earth and Mars are already close, and the planet now shines brightly in our night sky. Plus the telescopic view of Mars is nearly at its best now! Thank you, Marcelo!

In late September and early October 2020, the Northern Hemispheres Harvest Moon will shine in the vicinity of brilliant red Mars! Read more.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Joel Weatherly in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, caught the northern lights and Mars rising in the same view, September 26, 2020. He wrote: This image features some of my favorite autumn sights, including the aurora borealis, Pleiades, and Mars. This weeks geomagnetic unrest has allowed for multiple nights of aurora observations here in Alberta. Mars has also been an incredible sight to observe, with its signature hue showing up plainly to the unaided eye.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Veteran meteor observer Eliot Herman in Tucson used an automatic all-sky camera to capture this cool image of a bright meteor and Mars over Tucson, Arizona, on September 22, 2020. He wrote: Looks like it was shot from Mars not really, of course but it does look like Mars shot it toward Earth. First time I have caught such a conjunction. View this image full-sized. Thank you, Eliot!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Paulette Haws captured the planet Mars this past Monday evening, September 21, 2020. Mars is very bright now and fiery red, rising in the east not long after sunset. In this photo, Mars is shining above, and reflected in, Little Tupper Lake in New York state. Thanks, Paulette!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Aurelian Neacsu in Visina, Dambovita, Romania, captured this telescopic view of Mars on September 16, 2020. You cant see much of Mars surface when the red planet is at its farthest from Earth. But as Earth catches up to Mars in the race of the planets the distance between our two worlds is shrinking. Thank you, Aurelian!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Kakuktinniq at Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Canada, also captured red Mars gleaming through the aurora borealis on September 12, 2020. He wrote: Northern Lights over the Hudson Bay, with Mars near the center of the image.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman captured this dramatic view of Mars this past weekend, when it was near the moon: Moon and Mars clearing the ridgeline in Tucson, Arizona. The close conjunction of the moon and bright near-opposition Mars was a striking sight. The terminator of the moon shows the terrain picking up light on the craters and mountains leading to the observed discontinuities [the jagged appearance of the upper edge of the moon]. Thank you, Eliot! See more photos of early Septembers moon and Mars.

Bottom line: Photos from the EarthSky community of the bright planet Mars, now nearly at its best. Earth will pass between Mars and the sun bringing the planet to a once-in-two-years opposition on October 13, 2020.

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Photos of fiery Mars, nearly at its best in 2 years - EarthSky

Front Hazcam image showing the current workspace with the two Mary Anning drill holes on the bedrock slab (just left of centre), and Mount Sharp in the distance. The rover arm is extended out in the top left of the image, with the APXS sensor head pointing to the right. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image

The first order of business for this three-sol plan is to continue with arm diagnostic activities that could give Curiosity the all clear to bump to the next drill target at this location in the coming week. This still leaves plenty of time, power and data volume to plan a number of science activities. These include continued characterization of the composition of the rock and soil at this location, with ChemCam LIBS on Skaw Beach (soil target), Wart (resistant features in the bedrock) and Balallan (bedrock), accompanied by Mastcam documentation imaging. ChemCam will also capture some more RMI frames to add to the ongoing mosaic of the distant Housedon Hill area on Mount Sharp. The RMI mosaic will help the geologists on the team discern structures and textures within the rocks exposed in this area of Mount Sharp, which in turn might help us better understand their geological history.

As well as studying the ancient processes that formed the rocks in Gale crater, Curiosity also monitors the current environment. Such activities in this plan include Mastcam imaging of the nearby Upper Ollach sand and pebble target as part of an ongoing change detection campaign to monitor movement of loose material by the wind. Mastcam will also image the crater rim, and along with Navcam, the sky, to monitor dust and opacity of the atmosphere. A Navcam movie will also be acquired to record any dust devil activity.

Finally, there is a CheMin empty cell and clean up activity on the last sol, in preparation for our next drill campaign. Standard REMS, RAD and DAN passive and active measurements are also planned.

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Sols 2901-2903: Warts and All! - NASA Mars Exploration

CHEVY CHASE, Md., Oct. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Throughout the month of October, youth from across the country will apply their knowledge, creativity, and innovation in learning about STEM topics during the 13th annual 4-H STEM Challenge. Formerly known as 4-H National Youth Science Day, this year's STEM Challenge, Mars Base Camp, will explore the theme of sending humans on a mission to Mars.

With this year's launch of the NASA Perseverance Rover to Mars, the 4-H STEM Challenge will encourage young people to take an interest in STEM through fundamental concepts in space exploration and beyond. The National 4-H Council and Virginia Cooperative Extension, with support from Google, designed four unique hands-on activities to get kids and teens to explore computer science, space agriculture, and more.

"The Mars Base Camp theme is the perfect topic to engage young people and encourage them to explore a wide range of exciting subject areas related to STEM, in addition to the theme of outer space" said Erika Bonnett from Virginia Cooperative Extension. "Cooperative Extension and the nation's land grant universities are perfectly positioned to develop researched backed curriculum and activities that help young people learn in creative ways. These activities inspire kids to get hands-on and think about the big problems that today's top scientists and engineers are working on."

As young people, parents, and educators continue to look for new and creative ways to stay engaged during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 4-H STEM Challenge has adapted to ensure that young people everywhere, regardless of internet connectivity or family resources, have access to STEM Challenge kits which includes online and offline activities.

Today, fifty-five million kids face a widening opportunity gap in America, hindering them from having equal access to reach their full potential. In addition, 12 million kids lack access to reliable broadband internet resources. Through the 4-H STEM Challenge, young people will gain invaluable access to STEM learning opportunities supporting the organization's efforts to eliminate the opportunity gap and create better, brighter futures for all youth today.

"For more than a decade, we've engaged young people in STEM opportunities through our 4-H STEM Challenge initiative because early exposure and access can lead to a brighter future academically and professionally. Today, our efforts are even more important due to the continued impact of the pandemic, digital divide, and widening opportunity gap affecting young people," said Jennifer Sirangelo, president and CEO, National 4H Council. "With the support of our partners, kids can continue gaining essential STEM skills despite these challenging times. We believe STEM education plays a critical role in preparing young people for future success and through the STEM Challenge young people are exposed to a new world of possibilities."

To kick off this year's 4-H STEM Challenge, Bill Nye (popularly known as the Science Guy), CEO of The Planetary Society,will serve as the 4-H STEM Challenge Ambassador, encouraging millions of young people across the U.S. to explore STEM and hands-on learning opportunities, no matter the circumstances they face.

"I'm working to get people, especially students, excited about science and engineering. Science is how we have come to know nature. It's how we've built the amazing technology we have today, and it's how we feed 7.7 billion people," said Bill Nye. "This year's STEM Challenge will expose young people to fundamental ideas in science in hopes of encouraging a lifetime of exploration. I'm delighted to partner with 4-H and inspire the next generation of STEM leaders and decision-makers who will ultimately shape our future." Nye also had the opportunity to surprise four 4-H youth as the special guest host for a virtual Mars Base Camp Trivia Challenge. The 4-H youth, who are STEM leaders in their communities, were each awarded a $2,000 grant to support their 4-H Club's STEM programming.

Beginning October 1st, youth are invited to participate in the STEM Challenge, as well as other planned virtual events. For information about how to get involved, visit https://4-h.org/parents/4-h-stem-challenge/.

The 2020 4H STEM Challenge was developed with support from Google and our national partners Bayer, Toyota, and the United States Air Force.

SOURCE National 4-H Council

4‑H Home Page

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300000 Young People Explore STEM Through A "Mission to Mars" In the 2020 4-H STEM Challenge - PRNewswire

American space journalist and historian James Oberg provides some interesting accounts from Western astronauts who had experiences of training with the TOZ-81 as part of the space survival courses after the fall of the Soviet Union. These drills included firing practice from a boat in the Black Sea.

It was amazing how many wine, beer, and vodka bottles the crew of the ship could come up with for us to shoot at, astronaut James Voss told Oberg. It [the TP-82] was very accurate. We threw the bottles as far as possible, probably 20 or 30 meters, then shot them. It was trivial to hit the bottles with the shotgun shells, and relatively easy to hit them with the rifle bullets on the first shot.

Oberg recalls another astronaut, David Wolf, who spent time onboard Russias Mir space station in 1997-98, describing the weapon as a wonderful gun. Wolf added: I found it to be well-balanced, highly accurate, and convenient to use.

A rival to the TP-82 was the TOZ-81 appropriately named Mars a space revolver that didnt make it into large-scale production. Similarly emerging from the small arms factory at Tula, it seems only one example of this weapon was ever completed for use in trials.

Exactly why the TOZ-81 revolver was rejected in favor of the TP-82 is unclear, but it might have been down to the additional complexity of the design, or perhaps the less-popular .410-bore chambering. The TOZ-81 featured a five-shot cylinder and the trigger mechanism was double-action-only.

Unusually, the cylinder was located above the grip, with the gun firing from the bottom chamber. In typical revolvers, the cylinder is further forward and the top chamber in the top position is the one that gets fired with every shot. A different configuration seems to have been selected for the Mars to reduce the overall length of the weapon (useful for space capsule stowage), lower the bore-axis, and to improve balance for accuracy.

Two types of barrels were ultimately provided with the gun and these could be changed manually. There was a rifled barrel for use with 5.45x39mm ammunition and a smoothbore .410-bore one that could be loaded with cartridges filled with buckshot or a single dart-like flechette.

As with the TP-82, a folding knife was also incorporated in the TOZ-81, with it being housed over the barrel. In addition, a compact radio transmitter with a folding antenna was built into the detachable aluminum stock.

While the TOZ-81 design was destined to be discarded, the TP-82 space shotgun provided space crews with a survival weapon into the early 21st century, by which time American and civilian astronauts had trained to use it for missions in Soyuz spacecraft headed to and from the International Space Station (ISS). The TP-82 seems to have been used until 2007 when it was announced that the remaining ammunition stocks had become unusable and the weapon was withdrawn.

In its place, a standard pistol of unconfirmed type is again available to include in Russian space travelers survival kits.

However, it seems not all cosmonauts, or foreign spacefarers who travel in Russian space capsules during international missions, choose to take guns with them. Its unclear why. The Russians do have significantly improved capabilities to tell where spacecraft, even ones flying off course, will come down today than they did 40 years ago.

In October 2007, it was reported that cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko launched into space aboard a Soyuz capsule armed with a simple pistol rather than the bespoke TP-82. Flying with him, U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson took a traditional Kazakh horse-whip. This was symbolic of her commanders role and not to keep wild animals at bay.

The issue of weapons in space even if they are ultimately intended to defend against bears on Earth is a controversial one. James Oberg wrote in 2014 that for years he was needling and teasing the Russians about the presence of the guns while they were campaigning for no other weapons in space.

According to Oberg, writing in 2014, a traditional gun remains on the Russian space agencys official list of personal kit, but crews make a vote before each mission and choose to remove it. That, at least, suggests that those flying aboard Russian spacecraft reserve the option to take a firearm with them.

While a standard pistol might not be a bear-stopping weapon like the TP-82, its presence might just make the difference in the most extreme survival situations. On the other hand, it certainly lacks the science-fiction-like looks and features of the Soviet-era space guns.

Hat Tip to the fantastic @Sovietvisuals, make sure to follow them here.

Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com

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The TOZ-81 'Mars' Gun Was The Soviet Union's Ultimate Space Revolver - The Drive

In Arizona's badlands, not far from the Grand Canyon and located mostly within the Petrified Forest National Park, lies the Painted Desert. Different types of rock, including siltstone, mudstone and shale, characterize the stratified layers (known as horizons in geologic terms) of the Painted Desert. Each horizon is a beautiful shade of red, orange, beige, or purple. A new research paper recently published inIcarusshows a similarly stratified region of Mawrth Vallis, one of the oldest valleys on Mars.

A team of researchers led by Janice Bishop of the SETI Institute has analyzed data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Express, combining images from theCRISM,HiRISE, andHRSCinstruments, and made some exciting discoveries:

We are excited to discover how dynamic the ancient environment was at Mawrth Vallis, said Bishop, lead author of the paper. The transitions from ferric to ferrous iron and from neutral clays to salty sulfates imply changing water chemistry that on Earth are found together with microbial life.

While its unknown specifically what caused the changing chemistry in the ancient martian environment over time, it poses some possibilities for habitability. For example, was the changing environment caused by release of cations and anions from dissolution of rock, producing, an energy source that could have potentially been used by microbial life? And conversely, is it possible that microbial life itself was responsible for the chemical changes in the environment? In some salty terrestrial analog sites, including the Painted Desert, along with Western Australia and the Atacama Desert in Chile, microbial life has distinctive impacts on those areas' chemistry and geology.

While we don't know the answers to these questions with regard to Mars, no doubt, additional research and exploration will yield more clues about the dynamic nature of the ancient Martian environment and climate.

You can learn more by reading the full paperhere.

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Is There a Painted Desert on Mars? - SETI Institute

A POPULAR pub has been put up for sale with a guide price of 125,000.

Th Mars Inn, in Loftus, will go under the hammer later this month, along with 90 other properties and plots of land.

Auction house Pugh will be selling the pub, which has two bedrooms and is set on a third of an acre with beer gardens and car parking on Deepdale Road.

Pugh managing director Paul Thompson said: The Mars Inn is in a fantastic location in Loftus, which is close to the Yorkshire coast and midway between Saltburn and Staithes, both of which attract large crowds of visitors, especially right now, when a UK staycation has become the holiday of choice for almost everyone.

He added: The pub could represent an attractive development opportunity for an investor, subject to gaining the necessary planning consent, and whether that was residential of commercial it would be tremendous to see it continue to be an asset to the Loftus community, in whatever form.

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March, Pugh has sold more than 190 lots totalling over 20m at its auctions, which have been held on the firms online platform.

The firms next auction, featuring properties and land across the UK, including the Mars Inn, will be held on 21 October.

For more details and to view the full auction catalogue, go to http://www.pugh-auctions.com.

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The Mars Inn, Loftus, to be sold at auction - The Northern Echo

Evidence of Mars watery past is written all over the surface of the planet. Between dried-up river valleys, outflow channels, and sedimentary deposits, it is clear that Mars was once a much different place. But until recently, the mystery of where this water went has remained unsolved. This changed in 2018 when data obtained by the ESAs Mars Express probe indicated the existence of water beneath the south pole of the planet.

According to the Mars Express probes Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS), this body of water is in a 20 km (~12.5 mi) wide area about 1.5 km (~1 mi) beneath the surface. And now, further analysis of the data by a team led by the Roma Tre University has revealed the existence of three new ponds, the largest of which measures about 20 x 30 km (~12.5 x 18.5 mi) and is surrounded by many smaller ponds.

A research paper that describes the discovery was recently published in the journal Nature Astronomy. The study was led by Dr. Sebastian Emanuel Lauro (a researcher with the Dept. of Mathematics and Physics at the Roma Tre University) and included researchers from the University of Southern Queensland, Jacobs University Bremen, the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), and the Italian National Research Council (CNR).

Based on decades worth of surface and atmospheric data, scientists have determined that over three billion years ago, Mars had standing bodies of water, rivers, and ocean an ocean that covered much of its northern hemisphere. Today, it is impossible for water to remain stable on the surface owing to the extremely thin atmosphere. However, there is considerable amounts of water frozen in its polar regions.

Furthermore, the radar investigation conducted by the Mars Express probe showed that beneath the southern polar ice cap, the subsurface is made of many layers of ice and dust down to a depth of about 1.5 km in the 200 km-wide area analyzed in this study. The MARSIS data also found a particularly bright radar reflection beneath the layered deposits that measured roughly 20 km (~12.5 mi) in area.

The techniques used to analyze the MARSIS radar data are similar to those used to investigate subglacial lakes in Antarctica, Canada, and Greenland. A good example is Lake Vostok, which is located beneath 4 km (mi) of ice in Antarctica. Since its discovery, scientists have speculated that this lake (and others like it) might harbor unique ecosystems, which makes them a useful analogy for astrobiologists how life can survive in extreme environments.

The latest analysis of this data indicated that there are at least more ponds in the 200 km (125 mi) region scanned by Mars Express, which the team believes are the kind of hypersaline perchlorate brines (aka. very salty water) that are known to form in the Martian polar region. These results open the possibility that an entire system of ancient salty lakes might exist underground that date back millions (or even billions) of years.

While they would be difficult to reach, these would be the ideal spots to search for evidence of present-day life on Mars. Much like the existence of liquid water on the surface, scientists speculate that the only place where life could still exist on Mars is underground, most likely in patches of briny water. The existence of life in subsurface ponds also raises ethical questions about humans living on Mars in the future.

Several proposals for establishing a permanent human presence on Mars depend upon the availability of subsurface aquifers. But if in fact these are home to simple life forms or entire biospheres, then harvesting the water would be an ecological disaster and tantamount to genocide, and could even harmful for human beings consuming it.

This, among other recent discoveries, highlights the need for more research on Mars before we attempt to send regular missions there.

Further Reading: ESA

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Mars Express Finds Even More Ponds of Water Under the Ground on Mars - Universe Today

Curiosity snapped this look at its SAM instrument in September 2020.

Venus may be hogging the limelight right now, but Mars refuses to be forgotten in the search for evidence of life beyond our planet. NASA's Curiosity rover finally got the chance to perform a long-awaited experiment designed to look for organic molecules.

Curiosity is busy seeking signs that Mars may have once been habitable for microbial life. The rover's recent SAM TMAH experiment marked a new milestone in that investigation.

The subject of the test was a bit of powdered rock drilled from a site named "Mary Anning" after a trailblazing English paleontologist from the 1800s.

From the lab to your inbox. Get the latest science stories from CNET every week.

The rover uses its Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument to detect elements that are necessary for life (such as nitrogen, oxygen and carbon) in martian rock samples. It uses a collection of small cups to analyze powdered samples. Some of the cups heat the rock to collect gases and some contain chemical solvents.

The TMAH part of the experiment refers to the chemical tetramethylammonium hydroxide. Curiosity has only two cups with TMAH, making it an extremely precious commodity on the red planet.

"TMAH will help our science team identify what fragments of organic (carbon-bearing) materials are present in the clay-rich rock of Mary Anning," wrote NASA atmospheric scientist Scott Guzewich in the Curiosity blog last week.

The rover team hopes to learn more about the chemistry of ancient Mars, especially now that Curiosity is exploring an intriguing clay-rich area with a likely history of water. Guzewich said the SAM TMAH experiment "could help us understand whether the necessary ingredients for life were present in Gale Crater when it was better termed 'Gale Lake.'"

NASA has sent a series of increasingly more sophisticated rovers to Mars. Curiosity, which landed in 2012, will be joined by the new Perseverance rover in early 2021. It's still an open question as to whether Mars once hosted life, but the rovers' work could bring us some answers.

"The team is now eagerly awaiting results which will take us several months to fully interpret,"wrote planetary geologist Ryan Anderson in a mission update last week.

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NASA Mars rover runs first-of-its-kind experiment seeking clues to ancient life - CNET