3) The water to hydrate the soil is already on Mars.(this article)
4) We can build an artificial magnetosphere[1] to protect an area from solar radiation.
So one trip to Mars that can land a small (< 100kW) power plant, organic amendments, tools, and material for a pressurized green house will be able to create a 'farm' on Mars. That is pretty neat.
That is indeed awesome but I would argue that it also means we would need to undertake a much more thorough search to find out of mars is indeed a dead planet. Once we land a large concentration of biological matter there -- we won't have an opportunity to look again without dealing with massive potential for cross-planetary contamination.
Of course, it's a trade off and it's great news if we ever had to undertake a crash program to get at least a few humans and/or earth originated genetic material off planet with any hope of it surviving without extensive terraforming.
The original title is "Steep Slopes on Mars Reveal Structure of Buried Ice". The HN title "Buried Ice Water Discovered on Mars" is misleading - we've known about large midlatitude underground ice deposits for some years now.
Right. "Ice water" makes no sense. If anything, "water ice':
> The ice was likely deposited as snow long ago. The deposits are exposed in cross section as relatively pure water ice, capped by a layer one to two yards (or meters) thick of ice-cemented rock and dust.
The images are impressively detailed, but first impression is probaby. Water? How do they know from a picture of a cliff?
Water has been confirmed by spectroscopy, thermal imaging and (previously) radar.
From the article:
"Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) confirmed that the bright material is frozen water. A check of the surface temperature using Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera helped researchers determine they're not seeing just thin frost covering the ground.
Researchers previously used MRO's Shallow Radar (SHARAD) to map extensive underground water-ice sheets in middle latitudes of Mars and estimate that the top of the ice is less than about 10 yards beneath the ground surface."
I agree, the SHARAD work was amazing to use mixed mode Radar to image the subsurface ice tomographically (by reconstructing synthetic aperture radar from multiple passes of 2? different radar frequencies from many orbits with limited antenna time).
This is really the first time frozen water (not just frost) has been SEEN with an imaging spectrometer!
Incorrect, you're confusing different findings that are totally different areas of research merely because they have "water" in common.
We have long known that there is tons of frozen water on Mars outside of the poles. Through many individual discoveries we've learned about shallow subsurface permafrost over much of Mars; we've learned of a long history of sizable quantities of liquid water on Mars; and we've learned of subsurface glaciers of very ice that are almost entirely water ice by volume. The brines research is still an open question, as in all scientific research there is a back and forth between different interpretations of the given data, it's quite possible it will ultimately not shake out as a valid interpretation (but it's also a bit much to say that the brine theory has been "discredited" merely because an argument was made against it). Regardless, the existence of subsurface glaciers, of which this is an extension of, is a far less controversial result. We know Mars has subsurface water ice, we know some of that is in the form of glaciers, these are merely certain examples of those glaciers that are significantly exposed to the surface.
"This implies that RSL are not fed by large, near-subsurface aquifers, but are instead the result of either small ( < 120 km diameter) aquifers, deliquescence of perchlorate and chlorate salts or dry, granular flows."
Keyword there is "granular flows"
Here's another source for similar findings a few months prior.
"Granular flows at recurring slope lineae on Mars indicate a limited role for liquid water"
Also, if this is accurate, how do we know it's water? I mean most likely it is, but is there a potential for it to be some other type of frozen liquid? Potentially a non-drinking one?
>The new study ... identifies eight sites where ice is directly accessible, at latitudes with less hostile conditions than at Mars' polar ice caps. "Astronauts could essentially just go there with a bucket and a shovel and get all the water they need," Byrne said.
[+] [-] ChuckMcM|8 years ago|reply
1) Earth microbes and soil organisms (worms) can live in hydrated martian soil. (https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/mars-soil-earthw...)
2) Food plants can grow in martian soil that has had said organisms added to it.(https://www.nasa.gov/feature/farming-in-martian-gardens)
3) The water to hydrate the soil is already on Mars.(this article)
4) We can build an artificial magnetosphere[1] to protect an area from solar radiation.
So one trip to Mars that can land a small (< 100kW) power plant, organic amendments, tools, and material for a pressurized green house will be able to create a 'farm' on Mars. That is pretty neat.
[1] They designed it for spacecraft propulsion but it has the effect of a shield if installed in a ground station. http://earthweb.ess.washington.edu/space/M2P2/theory.html
[+] [-] justinjlynn|8 years ago|reply
Of course, it's a trade off and it's great news if we ever had to undertake a crash program to get at least a few humans and/or earth originated genetic material off planet with any hope of it surviving without extensive terraforming.
[+] [-] quickthrower2|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mncharity|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mirimir|8 years ago|reply
> The ice was likely deposited as snow long ago. The deposits are exposed in cross section as relatively pure water ice, capped by a layer one to two yards (or meters) thick of ice-cemented rock and dust.
[+] [-] daveguy|8 years ago|reply
Water has been confirmed by spectroscopy, thermal imaging and (previously) radar.
From the article:
"Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) confirmed that the bright material is frozen water. A check of the surface temperature using Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera helped researchers determine they're not seeing just thin frost covering the ground.
Researchers previously used MRO's Shallow Radar (SHARAD) to map extensive underground water-ice sheets in middle latitudes of Mars and estimate that the top of the ice is less than about 10 yards beneath the ground surface."
[+] [-] kurthr|8 years ago|reply
This is really the first time frozen water (not just frost) has been SEEN with an imaging spectrometer!
[+] [-] gilgoomesh|8 years ago|reply
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001910351...
Until a rover or other probe tests it directly, I'll remain skeptical.
[+] [-] InclinedPlane|8 years ago|reply
We have long known that there is tons of frozen water on Mars outside of the poles. Through many individual discoveries we've learned about shallow subsurface permafrost over much of Mars; we've learned of a long history of sizable quantities of liquid water on Mars; and we've learned of subsurface glaciers of very ice that are almost entirely water ice by volume. The brines research is still an open question, as in all scientific research there is a back and forth between different interpretations of the given data, it's quite possible it will ultimately not shake out as a valid interpretation (but it's also a bit much to say that the brine theory has been "discredited" merely because an argument was made against it). Regardless, the existence of subsurface glaciers, of which this is an extension of, is a far less controversial result. We know Mars has subsurface water ice, we know some of that is in the form of glaciers, these are merely certain examples of those glaciers that are significantly exposed to the surface.
[+] [-] tinix|8 years ago|reply
In 2015, there was this:
"NASA confirms the best-ever evidence for water on Mars" https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2...
From your link:
"This implies that RSL are not fed by large, near-subsurface aquifers, but are instead the result of either small ( < 120 km diameter) aquifers, deliquescence of perchlorate and chlorate salts or dry, granular flows."
Keyword there is "granular flows"
Here's another source for similar findings a few months prior.
"Granular flows at recurring slope lineae on Mars indicate a limited role for liquid water"
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-017-0012-5
I too remain skeptical.
[+] [-] LeifCarrotson|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] djsumdog|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dgudkov|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Edmond|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] everdev|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thedirt0115|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] outworlder|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] allemagne|8 years ago|reply
>The new study ... identifies eight sites where ice is directly accessible, at latitudes with less hostile conditions than at Mars' polar ice caps. "Astronauts could essentially just go there with a bucket and a shovel and get all the water they need," Byrne said.
[+] [-] azernik|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rubrick85|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jv22222|8 years ago|reply
That's so awesome.
[+] [-] akasian|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] djsumdog|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Density|8 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] otempomores|8 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] yazaddaruvala|8 years ago|reply