mars underground ice is bigger than New Mexico
A giant deposit of buried ice on Mars contains about as much water as Lake Superior does here on Earth, a new study reports.
The ice layer, which spans a greater area than the state of New Mexico, lies in Mars' mid-northern latitudes and is covered by just 3 feet to 33 feet of soil. It therefore represents a vast possible resource for future astronauts exploring the Red Planet, study team members said.
Data gathered by SHARAD during 600 MRO passes over Utopia Planitia revealed the deposit between 39 and 49 degrees north latitude. The layer ranges in thickness from 260 feet to 560 feet and is made up of 50 to 85 percent water ice, researchers said. (The remainder is dirt and rock.)
That puts the deposit's water volume roughly on a par with that of Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes, which holds 2,900 cubic miles of the wet stuff.
"We don't understand fully why ice has built up in some areas of the Martian surface and not in others," Levy added. "Sampling and using this ice with a future mission could help keep astronauts alive, while also helping them unlock the secrets of Martian ice ages."
Full article from foxnews
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