NASA scientists have discovered enormous underground reservoirs of frozen water on Mars, away from its polar caps, in the latest sign that life might be sustainable on the Red planet.
Ground-penetrating radar used by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals numerous huge glaciers up to one half-mile thick buried beneath layers of rock and debris. Researchers said one glacier is three time the size of Los Angeles in area.
"All together, these glaciers almost certainly represent the largest reservoir of water ice on Mars that's not in the polar caps," said John Holt, a geophysicist at the University of Texas at Austin and lead author of a report about the discovery, which appears in the November 21 issue of the journal Science.
"In addition to their scientific value, they could be a source of water to support future exploration of Mars," said Holt.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
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4 comments:
I love this kind of stuff! There may not have ever been native life on Mars, but the more we learn about our neighbor, the better it looks as a candidate for visiting if not setting up housekeeping. No, it won't be easy, but I think it IS worth doing.
i agree, bob; this is exciting news!
maybe if we imported some martian ice (sounds like a new drug) to our north pole, the polar bears would be okay...
the paranoid dude in me says it's all a trap. those martians from the film "mars attacks!!" are probably lying in wait behind the first underground glacier. ack ack!
Hey, it'd be worth it if they could graft the heads of hot blonde chicks onto little dogs!
(If that makes no sense, rent the film!)
i agree, ack ack.
with that in mind, i always thought it'd be rather appropriate to graft my ex's head onto a crocodile's body. just seemed fitting. and i owe the thought entirely to tim burton's flick!
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