2024-01-18 17:14:00
The European satellite Mars Express spotted ice in an area near Mars’ equator called Medusae Fossae. This region is made up of several structures formed by the wind and is located at the transition between the high and low plains of Mars.
The deposit is approximately 3.7 kilometers deep. If all the ice melted, Mars would be covered with a surface of water 1.5 to 2.7 meters deep. “Enough to fill the Red Sea on Earth,” said the European Space Agency (ESA).
Water is probably a remnant of the Red Planet’s past. It is barren and lifeless today, but water may have once flowed through it. If so, perhaps life was possible there.
During research carried out in 2007, researchers discovered massive deposits up to 2.5 km deep. Some data indicated the presence of ice, but at the time it was not excluded that it was rather deposits of dust, volcanic ash or sediment. New recordings made by Mars Express now confirm the hypotheses put forward in 2007.
The buried ice in this region could prove interesting for future manned missions to Mars. These need water and should land near the equator, far from the polar ice caps. “Unfortunately, these deposits are covered in hundreds of meters of dust, making them inaccessible at least for the next few decades,” said ESA’s Colin Wilson.
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