The fourth planet in the Solar System, Mars, the red Planet is the closest example to the Earth that we have so far discovered. Its ice caps are similar to ours and prove the presence of water on the ground, this opened up countless possibilities and questions about the planet.
Images taken of Mars have shown bright deposits on the surface in previously dark gullies, deposits which disappeared, these were discovered to be water ice which melted when it hit the surface. The Mars rover later captured pictures of smooth water like surfaces after digging in the soil. Flowing water as opposed to ice can prove the presence of life, it shows scientists that life could have lived on Mars in the past.
The atmosphere of Mars is a vacuum and the temperature is too cold to sustain flowing water on the surface, it would quickly freeze or evaporate but could leave traces of debris after breaking out of an underground source. If the water source were particularly briny or there was no wind, it may be possible for a delayed evaporation. It has been believed there was water on the planet for years but it could not be scientifically confirmed, now with advances in technology and this photographic proof they are able to retrieve samples and analyse the chemical composition of the ice, it should be able to tell us how old the frozen water is and Mars’s age.
The whole surface of Mars is once believed to be an ocean; we may be able to discover what happened to the planet and find out why it lost all its flowing water. There are tens of thousands of gullies across the planet, each could give up the planet’s secrets and hide microscopic life. The spread of this water means to scientists that this is more than water stored in minerals, possibly a frozen sea beneath the soil. Discovering this water lets scientists explore hypotheses decades old and search deeper into the planet.
If the water can be sustained on the surface, life could potentially grow and if an oxygen filled atmosphere can be created in a biosphere, humans may be able to live on another planet. One or more of Mar’s moons may also hold water within its surface and the key to discovering how the planet has changed, if we can see its past we may be able to predict its future; the presence of water means to scientists that Mars could still be alive.
