Mars is probably not the first planet you think of when it comes to water. However, if we rewind the clock to approximately 3 billion years ago, evidence from scientific explorations suggests that its surface was once covered with oceans, rivers, and lakes. Solar winds, continuous streams of electrons and protons from the sun’s outermost layer, slowly chipped away and depleted the Martian atmosphere. With the atmosphere disappearing, water either evaporated into space, merged with the surrounding minerals, or escaped underground and became ice.
Scientists have found evidence of water on several of Mars’ impact craters. Dark, narrow streaks have been found on the wall of the Garni crater. These strange streaks seem to flow and stop; they darken and appear during the warmer seasons and disappear when the weather turns cold. Chemical analysis of these streaks suggests the presence of salty water or brine. On the Gale crater, scientists have even found sedimentary rocks, which are formed when sediments are moved by the force of flowing water.
New research also shows that as much as 30% to 99% of water is trapped within Mars’ outer layer and could potentially be removed by heating the rocks. That sounds very challenging and slow, and I’m not sure if the 9 months that it takes to get to Mars just to heat rocks is worth it.
Evidence of Mars’ watery past has been found on Earth as well. While studying the Lafayette Meteorite, a glassy piece of space rock that crashed into the US state of Indiana, scientists found gasses trapped inside the rock that match those found on Mars’ atmosphere. Further studies showed that its minerals had interacted with water during its formation. Geochronologists, people who tell us the age of rocks, have determined that this meteorite is ~742 million years old.
John Grunsfeld, an astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, said, “Our quest on Mars has always been to follow the water, in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected”. With all this water, settlements on Mars might not be too far away. The question is: would you consider moving there?
Even if scientists make Mars more habitable, I will still prefer to live on Earth because of 2 reasons. My first reason is that Mars is very cold, around -65 ⁰C in the day, and temperatures can drop to about -133⁰C at night. My second reason is that it is quite dark on Mars, with the sunlight only about 43% as bright as on Earth. The night sky is usually dark and clear, with no twinkling stars. Mars is a beautiful planet with red sands and distinctive blue sunsets, but to live on it, scientists would have to develop pressurized suits and habitats, radiation shields, housing, and establish food and energy supply chains. That’s a lot! I would also miss all the people and sounds, as currently the only company on Mars would be the two rovers – Curiosity and Perseverance.
References:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/astronomy/mars-meteorite-liquid-water
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-confirms-evidence-that-liquid-water-flows-on-todays-mars/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/11/241113160829.htm
https://www.sci.news/space/lafayette-meteorite-13427.html#google_vignette