Ancient underground lakes found on Mars

Build hand floats and a large drill as you fly to Mars. On a dry and dusty red planet may be a world full of pools hidden beneath the southern ice cap.

A new study led by researchers at the University of Roma Tray in Italy reinforces this case 2018 Discovery of the lake hidden under the polar ice of Mars, Then extends the invention to include three new pools.

The researchers used radar data from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbit to detect liquid water.

“Now, if we take the additional data into account and analyze it differently, three new pools have been discovered.” The ESA said in a statement Monday. The group released its Study in the journal Nature Astronomy On Monday.

The lakes seem to be lurking under the ice sheet. The largest lake is about 19 miles (30 km) across, with small pools surrounding it.

Researchers expect water to be incredibly salty to be liquid at low temperatures. A stand-alone The 2019 study recommended volcanic activity May help prevent water from freezing, but the current paper is heavily skewed in terms of salt.

“Although surface water may not be stable today, the new result is that the entire structure of ancient lakes may be underground, perhaps millions or billions of years old,” the ESA said.

Humans are busy searching for signs of life on Mars – especially evidence of ancient microbes. NASA’s new diligence rover will continue this search From the surface of the red planet. Liquid water reservoirs can be a particularly attractive place to search for life, but these pools are very difficult to reach. There is 1 mile (1.5 km) of snow on the way.

Mars may not always get great answers from the South Pole, but it could set a future goal for exploration when our technology is challenging.