(Reuters) - A spacecraft orbiting Mars has scanned huge deposits of water ice at its south pole so plentiful they would blanket the planet in 36 feet of water if they were liquid, scientists said on Thursday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN1540881420070315
I believe the side view was more descriptive.
djm
It’s this kind of thing that makes astronomy so interesting isn’t it?
“We have this continuing question facing us in studies of Mars, which is: where did all the water go?” Plaut said.
“Even if you took the water in these two (polar) ice caps and added it all up, it’s still not nearly enough to do all of the work that we’ve seen that the water has done across the surface of Mars in its history.”
Plaut said it appears perhaps 10 percent of the water that once existed on Mars is now trapped in these polar deposits. Other water may exist below the planet’s surface or perhaps some was lost into space through the atmosphere, Plaut said.
Quite fascinating indeed. And not just from an astronomer’s perspective either. Knowing why Mars is the way it is now, what it was like in the past, (and similar questions for Venus) may have profound implications on other sciences as well.
A lot of Terra’s heat comes from its radioactive nickel-iron core. How would you heat up Mar’s core? And there has been nothing but negative results returned from studies of the effects of prolonged exposure to low gravity on our health. You can’t overcome a hundred thousand years of evolution that fast.
Venus would be even more of a challenge. Not only does it revolve in the opposite direction of all the other planets, but it barely revolves at all. You’d need to move its orbit out to cool its surface off some, speed up its revolutions to match Terra (to keep it cool and make it habitable by us), and restock its water supply from the belt past Mars.
I’m not sure there will be enough left of Terra to last until either one becomes habitable, even if we had the resources and technology to do it.
djm
Oh, man… EVERYTHING makes astronomy interesting.
Where da ‘in awe of nature’ smiley at?