{"id":2368,"date":"2026-10-14T04:54:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T01:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/?p=2368"},"modified":"2026-10-14T04:57:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T01:57:46","slug":"the-last-two-years-of-studying-mars-glaciers-have-yielded-more-interesting-results-than-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/2026\/10\/14\/the-last-two-years-of-studying-mars-glaciers-have-yielded-more-interesting-results-than-expected\/","title":{"rendered":"The last two years of studying Mars’ glaciers have yielded more interesting results than expected"},"content":{"rendered":"

Geological and mineralogical evidence suggests that approximately four billion years ago, Mars was warm and wet enough to support abundant liquid water on its surface, ranging from rivers and lakes to a vast northern sea. This period spans two geological eras: the Noachian, which lasted from 4.1 to 3.7 billion years ago, and the Hesperian, which lasted from 3.7 to approximately 3 billion years ago. The Noachian era is characterized by warmer conditions, but in its final stages, Mars would have begun to cool as it steadily lost its atmosphere to space.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3.6 billion years ago, Mars should have been too cold for liquid water to exist, but something kept rivers flowing. Nevertheless, there is still evidence of riverbeds and seas dating back to the late Noachian and Hesperian periods. Planetary scientists have been puzzled by how Mars could still be wet at this time, and one theory is that the Red Planet experienced an unexplained period of global warming. One researcher may have figured out how rivers and seas could have persisted on Mars even after the planet began to cool and its atmosphere thinned, all thanks to the water and carbon dioxide cycle.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

However, researcher Peter Buehler of the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona may have now resolved this issue thanks to his modeling of the role of carbon dioxide ice settling on the south polar cap. Buehler’s study was published on November 1, 2024, in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.<\/span><\/p>\n

The model “describes the origin of Mars’ major landscape features\u2014such as the largest lake, the largest valleys, and the largest esker system\u2014in a consistent manner,” B\u00fchler said. “And it’s based solely on the process we observe today, namely, the destruction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nA Viking 1 image of the southern edge of Argyre Planitia shows mountains surrounding a massive impact basin once flooded with water. NASA<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Eskers are long, rocky ridges left by flowing water, and their presence near Mars’s south pole is an important clue to how events unfolded on the Red Planet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Buehler is modeling the carbon dioxide cycle on Mars. During the Martian winter, a layer of carbon dioxide ice settles on the polar caps made of water ice. While it’s thin on the north polar cap, it’s much thicker on the south: the permanent layer of carbon dioxide ice reaches 8 meters (26 feet), and it’s even thicker in winter. This extra carbon dioxide is usually locked up in the Martian soil, but during the Martian summer, it can sublimate into the atmosphere and be transported to the winter pole.<\/span><\/p>\n

B\u00fchler wanted to determine the effect of this process 3.6 billion years ago, during the early Hesperidian Period, when the atmosphere, despite beginning to leak into space after Mars’s magnetic field, which had previously impeded the solar wind, weakened, was still much thicker than it is today. He discovered that a 650-meter-thick (0.4-mile) layer of carbon dioxide ice settled on Mars’s south polar cap each winter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carbon dioxide served two functions. First, it acted as an insulator, preventing heat from escaping from the planet’s interior at the south pole. It also added weight and pressure to the ice cap. These combined effects led to increased temperature and pressure at the base of the cap, allowing the ice there to melt and form a reservoir. Ultimately, over many winters, water ice and carbon dioxide ice continued to freeze onto the ice cap, while liquid water accumulated below to such an extent that it began to leak out the edges of the cap.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to new modeling, cold air will cause liquid water to freeze, forming permafrost. However, that’s not all. Liquid water will continue to form beneath the ice, finding escape routes.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The only way for water to escape is through the boundary between the ice sheet and the rock beneath it,” Buehler said. “That’s why rivers on Earth flow out from under glaciers rather than simply flowing into the ground.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The rivers still froze when they reached the surface, but the volume of water was such that it continued to melt this ice, forming an ice ceiling several tens of meters (hundreds of feet) thick above the rivers. The rivers themselves were only about a meter deep, but they were long, stretching for thousands of kilometers from the South Pole.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nPeter Buehler\/PSI<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This is where eskers come in. They are the remains of long subglacial rivers, many of which extend radially from the south polar region.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even today, we can see the remains of four major river channels flowing into Argyre Planitia, a massive impact basin 1,700 kilometers (1,100 miles) wide and 5.2 kilometers (3.2 miles) deep. Over millions of years, subglacial rivers filled Argyre Planitia with water, forming an ocean the size of the Mediterranean Sea. And all this time, meltwater continued to rise, periodically causing Argyre Planitia to flood and inundate the northern plains of Mars.<\/span><\/p>\n

“This is the first model that produces enough water to dam Argyre,” Buehler said. “It’s also likely that meltwater, once downstream, sublimated back into the atmosphere before returning to the south polar cap, maintaining a pole-to-equator hydrological cycle that may have played a significant role in the enigmatic late-stage pulse of Mars’s hydrological activity.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, Mars became too cold even for this melting process to occur. Recent claims have suggested the existence of a subsurface lake beneath Mars’s south polar cap, but this idea has been seriously questioned.<\/span><\/p>\n

The beauty of B\u00fchler’s model is that it doesn’t require any unexplained warming to explain the water we see\u2014it’s literally the same carbon dioxide cycle we observe today on Mars. Unfortunately, Mars has cooled so much, and carbon dioxide has become so scarce, that the days of widespread liquid water on the Red Planet are long gone.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2024, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft captured a striking diversity of landforms emerging from beneath the thick winter frost as spring approaches in Mars’s south polar region. Some of these features appear remarkably dark compared to the surrounding ice, earning them the nickname “mystery terrain.”<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Mars’ seasonal polar caps consist primarily of carbon dioxide ice mixed with water ice. In the spring, the ice partially sublimates (turns from solid to vapor), releasing large amounts of gas into Mars’s thin atmosphere. In the fall, the vapor condenses again, and the polar caps grow. By late winter, they can reach the 55th parallel\u2014roughly equivalent to the southern borders of Scotland and Denmark in the northern hemisphere, according to the ESA press service.<\/span><\/p>\n

This freeze-thaw cycle produces a variety of interesting surface features, many of which are captured in these images of the Austral Scopuli region, located near Mars’s south pole. The images were taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) aboard Mars Express on April 2, 2024, during the southern hemisphere spring.<\/span><\/p>\n

The left side of the main image is dominated by a thick layer of exposed layered sediments formed by the freezing of layers of ice containing varying amounts of dust. The right side of the main image shows the smooth surface of these polar layered sediments.<\/span><\/p>\n

A dark feature dominates the scene’s center. Initially called the “mystery feature,” it was unclear why these emerging features were so much darker than the rest of the ice cap. Researchers now have a better understanding of the processes occurring in this dynamic region.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nPeriglacial landforms in perspective. ESA<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Zooming in on the dark area in the main image reveals that the surface is covered with a pattern of polygons of varying scales. Each polygon is bounded by troughs or ridges, and sometimes the troughs trap bright frost.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a more detailed study of the polygonal relief, we can look at higher-resolution images obtained by the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter. Although the example shown here (above) is from a different region of Mars’s southern latitudes, it beautifully illustrates the presence of residual ice on the edges of polygons within and around the impact crater on a cold spring morning.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Earth, this pattern is a common periglacial phenomenon in Arctic and Antarctic regions, typically indicating the presence of water ice in the soil. The term “periglacial” refers to regions and processes where cold climates facilitate the evolution of landforms and landscapes. The polygons are formed by cycles of freezing and thawing of underground ice over years or even centuries. Studying similar patterns on Mars could help researchers decipher the planet’s climate history.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

In many places, the image shows light and dark fan-shaped deposits. Their thickness varies from tens to several hundred meters, and they are oriented along the prevailing winds.<\/span><\/p>\n

When sunlight penetrates a translucent layer of carbon dioxide in early spring, it heats the underlying surface. Ice at the bottom of the layer begins to sublime, forming gas pockets. Pressure builds, and the upper layer of ice suddenly cracks. Jets of gas burst through the surface, carrying dark dust from below. The dust falls back to the surface, forming a pattern determined by the direction of the prevailing wind.<\/span><\/p>\n

This process is similar to the one that creates the “spider-like” features shown in another image released by Mars Express.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nPeriglacial landforms in perspective. ESA<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

After the dark material settles on the surface of the ice, a second phase of interaction between the ice and a new layer of dust begins.<\/span><\/p>\n

The dark material absorbs more sunlight than the brighter, more reflective ice, so it heats the ice it falls on, causing the dark particles to gradually sink. This simultaneously accelerates the sublimation process, creating a hole. Fresh ice beneath the hole is either exposed, or new frost can condense on the descending dark particles, resulting in a light fan forming in place of the originally dark cone.<\/span><\/p>\n

This process is observed only in the spring. After the seasonal translucent ice layer has completely sublimated, the alluvial fans become indistinguishable from the underlying surface.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is the longevity of missions like Mars Express, which entered orbit around the Red Planet in 2003, that makes it possible to observe seasonal changes over many years and better understand once-mysterious features.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to studying the planet’s ice caps, the HRSC has revealed the full spectrum of Mars’s geological features: from wind-sculpted ridges and valleys to karst sinkholes on the flanks of colossal volcanoes, impact craters, tectonic faults, river channels, and ancient lava lakes. Using a suite of eight instruments, Mars Express is also mapping the planet’s minerals, investigating the composition and circulation of its atmosphere, probing beneath its crust, and studying the Martian environment. Over its lifetime, the mission has proven remarkably productive, creating a far more complete and accurate picture of our planetary neighbor than ever before. The Mars Express High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) was developed and is operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2026, it was discovered that water ice at Mars’s north pole is not as dusty as planetary scientists thought, which could change our understanding of the Red Planet’s past and present climate. This, in turn, could improve our understanding of whether Mars was habitable in the past.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When dust is present in ice, it acts as an insulator, absorbing sunlight and thus causing the ice to melt or sublimate depending on atmospheric pressure. Previous estimates suggested that water ice in Mars’s north polar cap and adjacent polar regions contained up to 25% dust by mass.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We know there’s water ice around Mars’s north pole, but there’s considerable disagreement about how dusty this ice is,” said Aditya Khuller of the University of Washington. “If it’s dusty, the ice will be darker. Just as a dark T-shirt feels warmer in the sun, dusty ice on Mars warms and evaporates faster.”<\/span><\/p>\n

However, a new analysis by Khuller and graduate student Pari Mohan using an alternative method revealed that the ice contains only 3% dust by mass. This means that the ice not only absorbs less sunlight, reducing the amount of ice evaporating into Mars’ atmosphere, but also reflects more sunlight back into space because it is cleaner and therefore brighter. Khuller and Mohan’s findings were published on September 8, 2026, in the journal npj Space Exploration.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nThese images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) show the expansion of a powerful dust storm on Mars in mid-2018, with rovers on the surface indicated by icons. NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

A planet’s reflectivity is called albedo, and the more sunlight is reflected, the less of it is retained to warm Mars, which needs all the warmth it can get because it lies on the outer edge of the solar system’s habitable zone.<\/span><\/p>\n

This new conclusion stems from Khuller’s realization that the method previously used by planetary scientists to determine the properties of water ice on Mars was not the best model. This method was based on the properties of lunar regolith on the Moon, but when Khuller applied it to ice on Earth, he found the results inaccurate. If it poorly describes the properties of Earth’s ice, is it really suitable for determining the properties of Martian ice?<\/span><\/p>\n

So Khuller and Mohan used a tried and true method developed by Steve Warren, a professor emeritus at the University of Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n

“His methods have been successfully used to study snow and ice on Earth for decades,” Khuller said. “So I thought it would be interesting to adapt these proven Earth-based methods to Mars.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Khuller and Mohan conducted calculations and concluded that the ice at Mars’s north pole was not as dusty as previous models had predicted. Both poles of Mars have ice caps that are covered in frost made of carbon dioxide ice in winter.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the South Pole, this layer is tens of feet thick, while at the North Pole it’s thinner, about a meter. In summer, this carbon dioxide ice sublimates into the air, and at the North Pole, this happens more quickly due to the relatively thin carbon dioxide layer. This exposes the more stable ice cap beneath.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is called the North Polar Remnant Cap, which sits atop numerous mile-thick layers of ice deposits, some dustier than others, collectively known as the North Polar Layered Deposits. The remnant cap is simply the most recent active layer of what Khuller calls the “ice cream sandwich.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nA view of Mars’ north pole and its water ice, which appears less dusty than previously thought. ESA\/DLR\/FU Berlin; NASA MGS MOLA Science Team<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The different layers of ice in this “sandwich” contain different amounts of dust, with dirtier layers sandwiched between cleaner ones. Depending on which layer was exposed to air at the time, this would have had different effects on Mars’s climate. The current residual layer appears to be dust-poor, contributing to the cold Martian environment. However, these differences could even manifest themselves on an annual scale due to the appearance and disappearance of carbon dioxide frost.<\/span><\/p>\n

Orbiting satellites such as Europe’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey have been imaging and mapping the Martian surface, including the polar caps. These observations have revealed seasonal changes in the brightness of the ice caps as carbon dioxide ice accumulates and subsequently sublimes.<\/span><\/p>\n

“By studying how the brightness changed over time, we found that frost forms in winter, and it’s dustier,” Khuller said. “In the summer on Mars, it disappears, revealing cleaner, older ice.”<\/span><\/p>\n

There may also be a connection to potential habitable environments on Mars. In the past, when the dustier layers of the polar ice cap were exposed, they absorbed enough sunlight to melt the underlying ice layer. This would have created pools of liquid water, rich in nutrients derived from the dust.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Earth, shallow puddles of dusty meltwater are typically teeming with microbes that go dormant when the water refreezes in winter and then reactivate when the ice melts in summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, the ice caps of Mars could provide an ideal habitat for microbial life, but so far we have not detected any life on the Red Planet.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s interesting that both Mars and Earth have similar layers of water ice and dust,” Khuller said. “Why is there life on one planet and not on the other?”<\/span><\/p>\n

A 2026 study suggests that finding usable water on Mars may soon require an unexpected tool: radar-equipped drones that fly just above the surface to peer underground in ways orbiters can’t.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers from the University of Arizona have demonstrated that drone-mounted ground-penetrating radar can map buried glaciers on Earth with remarkable accuracy, offering a model for how similar methods could be used on Mars. According to the university, the work focused on glaciers in Alaska and Wyoming, which are very similar to debris-covered ice deposits found on the Red Planet. The research findings were published on March 24, 2026, in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nThis stereo image, taken by the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the formation of a viscous flow in the Deuteronilus Mensae region, which is thought to contain large amounts of ice. HiRISE\/CTX<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

“To make decisions about where to drill on Mars, we need to know whether the ice we’re looking for is less than one meter thick, or ten meters thick,” said Roberto Aguilar, lead author of the study and a doctoral student at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Research Laboratory, in a statement. “That’s exactly the kind of information a drone-based system could provide.”<\/span><\/p>\n

For decades, Mars missions have relied on orbital radar instruments, such as the Shallow Aperture Radar Augmentation (SHARAD) aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, to detect subsurface ice. These systems have confirmed the presence of vast deposits of water ice beneath layers of rock and dust, particularly at mid-latitudes. But while orbiters can detect large ice deposits, they struggle to determine finer details near the surface, including the precise depth of the ice and the thickness of the overlying debris, Aguilar explained in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

This limitation is crucial. For future missions, knowing whether the ice is buried under a meter of loose debris or tens of meters of hardened material could determine whether it will be accessible at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nA research drone equipped with ground-penetrating radar takes off for a reconnaissance flight over Galena Creek Rock Glacier in Wyoming. Michael Daniel<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The study shows that drone-mounted radar can fill this gap. Flying at low altitude over glaciers in Alaska and Wyoming, the researchers mapped ice thickness, discovered layers of debris just a few feet thick, and revealed internal structures within the ice. The findings were confirmed by field measurements obtained during excavations and drilling, as well as modeling, confirming that the radar signals originated from beneath the debris.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Mars, similar systems could explore buried ice and map the debris above it, revealing details invisible to orbiters. Instead of drilling blindly, mission planners could target locations where the ice is closest to the surface, gaining a clearer understanding of its depth and distribution.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We already knew how ground-penetrating radar worked, but this was the first time we mounted it on drones and tested its practical applications,” Aguilar said in a statement. “For example, we learned the altitude and speed at which the drone should fly, the importance of flying in the direction of glacier movement, and how to ensure the radar is properly aligned to detect ice.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than replacing orbiters or rovers, drones could likely act as intermediate scouts in a multi-layered exploration strategy: orbiters map broad regions, drones refine these high-resolution maps, and ground missions conduct drilling and analysis. This approach could reduce risks and increase efficiency by directing missions to the most promising areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nAgainst a blue sky, a drone equipped with ground-penetrating radar takes off from Galena Creek Rock Glacier in Wyoming. Jack W. Holt<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The implications extend beyond logistics. Water ice on Mars is both a scientific archive of past climate conditions and a potential resource for future astronauts, providing drinking water, oxygen production, and agriculture. Choosing the right locations could also increase the chances of discovering signs of past life.<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea is based on NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter project, which demonstrated controlled flight in the thin atmosphere of Mars and opened the door to more advanced airborne scientific research platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We’re bridging the gap between today’s orbital observations and the more distant future, when astronauts land on Mars and conduct observations from Earth,” Aguilar said in a statement. “This gives us the opportunity to study glaciers now, from the air.”<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The study doesn’t propose replacing existing mission architectures, but rather enhancing them with aerial imaging systems that will make the survey more accurate and adaptable. By borrowing methods from ground-based glacier studies, the scientists are transforming the detection of buried ice into something much more practical for future Mars exploration.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Mars’s glaciers still raise many questions. For example, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has re-examined and raised new questions about a mysterious object buried beneath thousands of feet of ice at the Red Planet’s south pole. In a recent study, scientists, using data obtained using innovative radar technology, concluded that the area on Mars, presumably an underground lake, is most likely a layer of rock and dust.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The discovery of a suspected lake in 2018 sparked a wave of scientific activity, as water is closely linked to life in the solar system. While recent data indicates that this is not a lake beneath the surface of Mars, it suggests that the same radar method could be used to search for subsurface resources elsewhere on Mars, supporting future exploration. Results from NASA’s 2025 application of advanced radar technology demonstrated improved observations of the subsurface of Mars, the press service reports.<\/span><\/p>\n

The paper, published in Geophysical Research Letters on November 17, 2025, was prepared by two scientists working on MRO’s Shallow Radar (SHARAD) instrument, Gareth Morgan and Tan Putzig, who are at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, and Lakewood, Colorado, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

The observations were conducted by MRO using a special maneuver in which the spacecraft rotates 120 degrees. This increases the power of the SHARAD radar, allowing the signal to penetrate deeper underground and provide a clearer image of the subsurface. These “very large rotations” have proven so effective that scientists are eager to use them in previously observed areas where buried ice may be present.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nIn this conceptual rendering of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2006, an antenna protrudes from its hull like a mustache. This antenna is part of SHARAD, a radar designed to observe the surface of Mars. NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Morgan, Putzig, and other SHARAD team members made several unsuccessful attempts to survey the area suspected of being the buried lake. The scientists then teamed up with the spacecraft operations team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission, to explore the possibility of a very large rotation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because the radar antenna is located at the rear of MRO, the orbiter’s body obscures the view and reduces the instrument’s sensitivity. After considerable work, engineers from JPL and Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, who built and operate the spacecraft, developed commands for a 120-degree roll\u2014a technique requiring careful planning to ensure the spacecraft’s safety\u2014to direct the majority of SHARAD’s signal to the surface.<\/span><\/p>\n

On May 26, 2025, SHARAD performed a very large roll to finally pick up a signal in the target area, which extends approximately 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) and is hidden under a layer of water ice nearly 1 mile (1,500 meters) thick.<\/span><\/p>\n

When a radar signal reflects off subsurface layers, the strength of its reflection depends on the composition of the subsurface. Most materials transmit or absorb the signal, making the reflected signal weak. Liquid water is unique in that it creates a highly reflective surface, transmitting a very strong signal (imagine shining a flashlight on a mirror).<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nThis map shows the approximate area where ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft detected a signal in 2018, which mission scientists interpreted as coming from a subsurface lake. The red lines show the flight path of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which flew both directly over the destination and the surrounding region. Planetary Science Institute<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This very signal was detected in this region in 2018 by a team of researchers using the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) instrument onboard the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Express orbiter. To explain how such a body of water could remain liquid beneath the ice, the scientists hypothesized that it might be a salt lake, as high salt content can lower the freezing point of water.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We’ve been monitoring this area with SHARAD for almost 20 years, but we’ve never seen anything at these depths,” Putzig said. But when MRO made a very large tilt over the area, the team was able to peer much deeper. And instead of the bright signal detected by MARSIS, SHARAD detected a faint one. Another observation with a very large tilt in a nearby area revealed no signal at all, suggesting that something unique is causing the strange radar signal precisely where MARSIS detected it.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The lake hypothesis has generated a lot of interesting ideas, which is what exciting scientific discoveries should do,” Morgan said. “And while this new data won’t end the debate, it does make it much harder to support the idea of \u200b\u200ba lake of liquid water.”<\/span><\/p>\n

At the south pole of Mars, the ice cap covers a heavily cratered landscape, and most radar images of the region beneath the ice show numerous peaks and valleys. Morgan and Putzig suggested that the bright signal detected there by MARSIS could simply be a rare flat area\u2014perhaps an ancient lava flow.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nThis image of Mars’s south polar ice cap was taken on February 25, 2015, by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter. Three years later, the spacecraft detected a signal from a region to the right of the ice cap, which scientists interpreted as a signal from a subsurface lake. ESA\/DLR\/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Both scientists were enthusiastic about the possibility of using the Very Large Orbit method to re-examine other scientifically interesting regions of Mars. One such location is Fossa Medusa, a vast geological formation at the equator of Mars that barely reflects radar signals. While some scientists speculate that it consists of layers of volcanic ash, others believe that vast deposits of ice may lie deep within these layers.<\/span><\/p>\n

“If it’s ice, that means there’s plenty of water near the Martian equator, which is a better place to send people,” Putzig said. “Because the equator is exposed to more sunlight, it’s warmer, which makes it ideal for astronauts to live and work.”<\/span><\/p>\n

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California manages the Mars Maintenance and Repair Facility (MRO) for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C., as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the MRO and maintains its operations. The SHARAD system was provided to the MRO mission by the Italian Space Agency (ASI).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/i> Comment on Facebook* The owner of the Meta company is recognized as extremist in Russia and is banned.<\/span><\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Geological and mineralogical evidence suggests that approximately four billion years ago, Mars was warm and wet enough to support abundant liquid water on its surface, ranging from rivers and lakes to a vast northern sea. This period spans two geological eras: the Noachian, which lasted from 4.1 to 3.7 billion years ago, and the Hesperian, which lasted from 3.7 to approximately 3 billion years ago. The Noachian era is characterized by warmer conditions, but in its final stages, Mars would have begun to cool as it steadily lost its atmosphere to space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2369,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,993,542,40],"tags":[512,491,303,1036,330],"class_list":{"0":"post-2368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-geliobiology","8":"category-astrobiology","9":"category-mars","10":"category-kosmos","11":"tag-carbon-dioxide","12":"tag-ice","13":"tag-mars","14":"tag-polar-cap","15":"tag-water"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2368"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2371,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368\/revisions\/2371"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}