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An international team of researchers has found new evidence for the possible existence of liquid water beneath the south polar ice cap of <keyword id="47638" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mars" source="Orion">Mars</keyword>.<br /><br />The results, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, provide the first independent line of evidence, using data other than radar, that there is liquid water beneath Mars' south pole.<br /><br />The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge with involvement from the University of Sheffield, used spacecraft laser-altimeter measurements of the shape of the upper surface of the ice cap to identify subtle patterns in its height.<br /><br />They then showed that these patterns match computer model predictions for how a body of water beneath the ice cap would affect the surface.<br /><br />Their results are in agreement with earlier ice-penetrating radar measurements that were originally interpreted to show a potential area of liquid water beneath the ice.<br /><br />There has been debate over the liquid water interpretation from the radar data alone, with some studies suggesting the radar signal is not due to liquid water.<br /><br />"This study gives the best indication yet that there is liquid water on Mars today because it means that two of the key pieces of evidence we would look for when searching for sub-glacial lakes on Earth have now been found on Mars," said Frances Butcher, second author of the study from the University of Sheffield.<br /><br />"Liquid water is an essential ingredient for life, although it does not necessarily mean that life exists on Mars," Butcher said.<br /><br />In order to be liquid at such cold temperatures, the resaerchers noted that the water beneath the south pole might need to be really salty, which would make it difficult for any microbial life to inhabit it.<br /><br />However, it does give hope that there were more habitable environments in the past when the climate was less unforgiving, they said.<br /><br />Like Earth, Mars has thick water ice caps at both poles, roughly equivalent in combined volume to the Greenland Ice Sheet.<br /><br />However, unlike Earth's ice sheets which are underlain by water-filled channels and even large subglacial lakes, the polar ice caps on Mars have until recently been thought to be frozen solid all the way to their beds due to the cold Martian climate.<br /><br />In 2018, evidence from the European Space Agency's Mars Express satellite challenged this assumption.<br /><br />The satellite has an ice-penetrating radar called MARSIS, which can see through Mars' southern ice cap. It revealed an area at the base of the ice that strongly reflected the radar signal, which was interpreted as an area of liquid water beneath the ice cap.<br /><br />However, subsequent studies suggested that other types of dry materials, which exist elsewhere on Mars, could produce similar patterns of reflectance if they exist beneath the ice cap.<br /><br />Given the cold climate conditions, liquid water beneath the ice cap would require an additional heat source, such as geothermal heat from within the planet, at levels above those expected for present-day Mars.<br /><br />"The combination of the new topographic evidence, our computer model results, and the radar data make it much more likely that at least one area of subglacial liquid water exists on Mars today, and that Mars must still be geothermally active in order to keep the water beneath the ice cap liquid," said Professor Neil Arnold from Cambridge's Scott Polar Research Institute, who led the research.<br /><br />On Earth, subglacial lakes affect the shape of the overlying ice sheet - its surface topography. The water in subglacial lakes lowers friction between the ice sheet and its bed, affecting the velocity of ice flow under gravity.<br /><br />This in turn affects the shape of the ice sheet surface above the lake, often creating a depression in the ice surface followed by a raised area further down-flow.<br /><br />The team, including researchers from the University of Nantes, University College, Dublin, and the Open University, used a range of techniques to examine data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor satellite of the surface topography of the part of Mars’ south polar ice cap where the radar signal was identified.<br /><br />Their analysis revealed a 10-15 kilometre-long surface undulation comprising a depression and a corresponding raised area, both of which deviate from the surrounding ice surface by several metres.<br /><br />This is similar in scale to undulations over subglacial lakes here on Earth. The team then tested whether the observed undulation on the surface of the ice could be explained by liquid water at the bed.<br /><br />They ran computer model simulations of ice flow, adapted to specific conditions on Mars. They then inserted a patch of reduced bed friction in the simulated ice sheet bed where water, if present, would allow the ice to slide and speed up.<br /><br />The researchers also varied the amount of geothermal heat coming from inside the planet. These experiments generated undulations on the simulated ice surface that were similar in size and shape to those the team observed on the real ice cap surface.<br /><br />The similarity between the model-produced topographic undulation and the actual spacecraft observations, together with the earlier ice-penetrating radar evidence suggest that there is an accumulation of liquid water beneath Mars’ south polar ice cap, the researchers said.<br /><br />This magmatic activity occurred relatively recently in the subsurface of Mars to enable the enhanced geothermal heating needed to keep the water in a liquid state, they added. <br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO: </strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/credit-suisse-is-in-trouble-but-this-is-not-2008-investors-remain-wary-of-the-all-is-well-soundbites/articleshow/94641570.cms">Credit Suisse is in trouble, but this is not 2008 – investors remain wary of the ‘all is well’ soundbites</a><br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/reliance-jio-and-airtel-5g-prices-may-be-affordable-for-now-but-expected-to-increase-after-wider-rollout/articleshow/94636173.cms">Reliance Jio and Airtel 5G prices may be affordable for now but expected to increase after wider rollout</a><br />

Scientists find new evidence for liquid water on Mars

<br />The <keyword id="6625456" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mars-Orbiter-Mission">Mars Orbiter Mission</keyword> (MOM), the <keyword id="116095" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Space-Research-Organisation">Indian Space Research Organisation</keyword>’s (ISRO’s) first interplanetary mission, <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/update/24-sep-2018/mars-orbiter-mission-mom-completes-4-years-its-orbit" data-type="tilCustomLink">completed 4 years</a> on Monday. This mission made <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> the first country to enter the red planet’s orbit on its first attempt as well as the first Asian country to have sent a spacecraft into <keyword id="47638" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mars">Mars</keyword>’ orbit. <br /><br /><div type="Youtube" id="p6iSYiSQUF8" title="India's Mars Orbiter Mission completes 4 years" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p6iSYiSQUF8/mqdefault.jpg"></div>

<br />To mark the occasion, ISRO shared some pictures from the <keyword id="1927478" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mars-Colour-Camera">Mars Colour Camera</keyword> (MCC) on board the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft (MOS). <br /><br />In order to fulfil its mission of collecting data to study the Martian atmosphere and observe the red planet's physical features, the MOS also carries a thermal infrared imaging spectrometer, methane sensor for Mars, Mars exospheric neutral composition analyser and a Lyman Alpha photometer.<br /><br />Here are some of the images that have been captured so far:<br /><br />

Mars Orbiter Mission completes 4 years: In pictures

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The tilted orbit of one of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-hiring-astronauts-for-missions-to-moon-mars">Mars</a>' <keyword id="53197" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="moons">moons</keyword> was caused by the gravitational pull of a much larger moon that existed in the past, new <a href="https://www.seti.org/press-release/martian-moons-orbit-hints-ancient-ring-mars">findings</a> suggest.</li><li>That moon may have taken part in a phenomenon known as a moon-ring formation cycle.</li><li>In that cycle, <keyword id="47638" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars">Mars</keyword> pulled its moon so close that the moon got ripped apart, forming a giant ring. Then over time, the pieces of space dust and rock in the ring came together to reform a moon. </li></ul><p>New <a href="https://www.seti.org/press-release/martian-moons-orbit-hints-ancient-ring-mars">research</a> on Mars' two small, irregularly shaped moons suggests the red planet might have had a giant ring in the past.</p><p>Mars' two moons, <keyword id="1378507" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Phobos">Phobos</keyword> and <keyword id="2763774" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="deimos">Deimos</keyword>, both have wonky orbits. Phobos is about seven times larger than Deimos, and circles only about 3,700 miles above the Martian surface — the closest moon to its planet in the <keyword id="52393" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Solar-System">solar system</keyword>. Deimos's orbit, meanwhile, is tilted by about two degrees.</p><p>At this week's virtual meeting of the American Astronomical Society, scientists from the SETI Institute and Purdue University <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.00645">suggested in a presentation</a> that Deimos' orbit may be slightly off due to the gravitational pull of an old Martian moon that no longer exists.</p><p>That supports other research that suggests Mars experiences a cycle of ring-moon formation: Its moons are drawn towards the planet, eventually breaking up into pieces that form a giant ring. Then over time, the rocks and debris coalesce to form a new moon.</p><p><div type="image" title="These color-enhanced views of Deimos, the smaller of the two moons of Mars, result from imaging on Feb. 21, 2009, by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Image Credit:" height="394" width="768" msid="76204018" hostid="261"></div></p><h2><strong>The mysterious history of Mars' moons</strong></h2><p>The unique characteristics of Mars' moons have long confused astronomers. </p><p>"The fact that Deimos's orbit is not exactly in plane with Mars's equator was considered unimportant, and nobody cared to try to explain it," <a href="https://www.seti.org/our-scientists/matija-cuk">Matija Ćuk</a>, a research scientist at the SETI Institute, said in a press release about the research.</p><p>Many scientists previously thought both moons were captured asteroids or space rocks. But Cuk's team's research suggests that Deimos's orbital tilt — paired with the fact that it's farther away than Phobos — has bigger implications.</p><p>"Once we had a big new idea and we looked at it with new eyes, Deimos's orbital tilt revealed its big secret," Ćuk said.</p><p>The researchers calculated that the ancient moon responsible for the orbital tilt may have been about 20 times as big as Phobos and existed around 3 billion years ago. Then it was pulled toward Mars and ripped apart to form a ring.</p><p><div type="image" title="65_moons (1)" height="941" width="2000" msid="76204020" hostid="261"></div></p><h2>A cycle of moons and <keyword id="54193" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Rings">rings</keyword></h2><p>The new findings support <a href="https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2017/Q1/does-mars-have-rings-not-right-now,-but-maybe-one-day.html">research from 2017</a> that suggests that Mars experiences a cycle of moon-ring formation.</p><p>The 2017 research theorized that over billions of years, there have been multiple generations of Mars' moons and rings.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-moon-phobos-is-dying-2015-11">Phobos</a>, by this logic, is the most recent incarnation of that cycle. Some researchers think Phobos is as young as 200 million years old — meaning it formed around the same time dinosaurs were roaming the Earth. </p><p><div type="image" title="phobos moon mars nasa mro" height="1200" width="1600" msid="76204024" hostid="261"></div></p><p>But the moon is getting closer to the Martian surface as it's pulled in by gravitational force. Once it gets too close, Mars's gravity will likely pull it apart, perhaps within 50 million years. The pieces would then orbit as a ring.</p><p>The Japanese space agency, JAXA, is planning a mission in 2024 to learn more about Martian moons. If that goes according to plan, a spacecraft would land on Phobos' surface to collect and analyze samples that could reveal more about its composition and history.</p>

Mars may have had a giant ring billions of years ago, new research suggests

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>NASA's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-insight-lander-2018-3">InSight</a> lander <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-lander-picks-up-whats-likely-1st-detected-marsquake-2019-4">detected its first Mars quake</a> in April.</li><li>Researchers were surprised to find that the quake was similar to quakes on the moon, which suggests <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/mars">Mars</a>' crust is more dry and broken up than they anticipated.</li><li>Since then, InSight has picked up dozens more potential quakes, though scientists are still waiting for a big one.&#xa0;</li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</strong></li></ul><p>Scientists have been listening to whispers from below Mars' surface.</p><p>NASA's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/nasa-insight-lander">InSight lander</a>, which touched down on Mars <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-insight-mars-probe-landing-successful-science-mission-2018-11">in November 2018</a>, gave scientists the unprecedented ability to detect and monitor quakes on Mars. The lander's built-in seismometer detected its first quake in April, and since then, researchers have recorded dozens more potential Mars quakes.</p><p>The nature of this shaking is changing what scientists thought they knew about the red planet.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><p>So far, the biggest surprise is that seismic waves on Mars more closely resemble moon quakes than earthquakes - which probably means Mars' crust is more dry and broken up than we thought.</p><p>"So far, we have assumed that the crust of Mars is similar to the Earth's crust," Simon Stähler, a Mars seismology researcher at ETH Zurich, said in a <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8430/nasas-insight-detects-first-likely-quake-on-mars/?site=insight">press release</a>. "The fact that the wave form of the Mars quakes resembles the moon quakes gives us for the first time a picture of how the Martian crust is internally structured. Until now, we could only look at it from the outside." <span style="background-color: #ffff00;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><h2>Mars, the moon, and Earth quake for different reasons</h2><p>Studying seismic activity helps scientists piece together the history of how rocky planets formed in our solar system. On Earth, for example, tracking how seismic waves move through the planet's interior helped researchers calculate the size of its core.</p><p>Reading the seismic waves on Mars, scientists hope, will reveal clues about what the plant's inside looks like and how it's changing.&#xa0;</p><p>"Seismology is how you get the details," Mark Panning, a seismologist on the NASA InSight team, told Business Insider.</p><p>Not all quakes are created equal. When the Earth shakes, it's because tectonic plates in the crust are clashing at fault lines. Mars doesn't have tectonic plates, though. So scientists think Mars quakes probably come from a constant internal-cooling process, which happens inside most rocky planets. As the core cools, the material contracts, which causes stress to build. This eventually cracks the crust and causes a quake.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><p>Seismic waves from quakes - regardless of the cause - also travel on different paths and at different rates, depending on what type of material they're moving through.&#xa0;</p><p>On Earth, the source of seismic waves is easily detectable, since the crust is comprised of relatively uniform, solid rock (which has been melted and re-paved by volcanic activity over millions of years). That rock also has water in it, which absorbs energy, causing waves to die out faster. That's why earthquakes last for just a few minutes.</p><p>On the moon, however, quakes can last longer than an hour.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><p>"A moon quake builds up for minutes, then decays away for an hour or more. So it looks very different," Panning said. "The reason moonquakes look that way is because the moon's surface is really dry and really broken up. It's been basically sitting there for billions of years and getting hit by meteorites."</p><p>Still, researchers expected quakes on Mars to fall more on the Earth-like end of the spectrum. That's because they thought the planets had similar crusts, given that Mars once had plenty of volcanic activity and water.</p><p>But the initial data suggests that may not be the case.</p><h2>How Mars quakes are changing scientists' understanding of the red planet&#xa0;</h2><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><p>So far, the length of Mars quakes seems to fall somewhere in the middle of the moon's and Earth's, at about 10 to 20 minutes. Mars also appears to be a little more seismically active than the moon, but a lot less than Earth.</p><p>Mars' seismic waves also reverberate more than waves on Earth, and more similarly to moon quakes.</p><p>"It's bouncing off all of these broken-up bits, so that gives you something that lasts a long time," Panning said.&#xa0;</p><p>This suggests that Mars' crust has layers of rugged, dry, broken-up rock like the moon's.&#xa0;</p><p>The artist's representation below shows how seismic waves from a Mars quake might move through the red planet's interior.</p><p>&#xa0;</p><p>The <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/what-does-a-marsquake-look-like/">animation</a>, made by an InSight <a href="https://seg.ethz.ch/people/person-detail.html?persid=185421">seismologist</a> at <a href="https://ethz.ch/en.html">ETH Zurich</a>, shows the different types of waves the InSight team is studying. The blue waves are the initial bouncy pulses that spread out quickly from the quake's source. The red ones follow as a result, and seismologists can use the lag between them to calculate how far away the quake's source is.</p><p>The long waves of red and white that spread along the sides of the animation are surface waves that bounce through crust material - their reverberations suggested the moon-like qualities of Mars' crust.</p><p>The researchers expected Mars' crust to be more dry and broken than Earth's, but not quite this much. They don't know yet what to make of the new finding.</p><h2>Much more to learn</h2><p>A few dozen Mars quakes aren't enough to reveal the red planet's secrets, however.</p><p>"The biggest thing that we can do with the pretty small number of events we've seen so far is really understand how active Mars is now," Panning said. "That's telling you a lot of information on how Mars is evolving over time."</p><p>So far, the signals from Mars quakes have also been too faint to offer information about the internal structure of the planet below its crust. A person standing on Mars would not have been able to feel any of the shaking InSight's tools picked up.</p><p>In fact, a team of InSight seismologists in Zurich had to amplify those seismic signals by a factor of 10 million in order to accurately simulate the shaking on the scale of an earthquake.</p><p>&#xa0;</p><p>For these reasons, the InSight team is still waiting for a big quake<span style="font-weight: 400;"> that travels through the planet's core.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Then we can start actually making detailed pictures of what the Martian interior looks like," Panning said. "There's a waiting game right now. We're going to be listening for another year and a half, so we're expecting to see a lot more things."</span></p><p>In the meantime, the InSight team trying to fix the lander's "mole," a tool that's supposed to dig down 16 feet and take Mars' temperature. The mole <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8419/more-testing-for-mars-insights-mole/?site=insight">stopped working properly</a> in February.</p><p>In the future, Panning would like to see sensors on every planetary body that quakes, especially <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/13020/the-moon-with-the-plume/">Enceladus</a>, a moon of Saturn from which plumes of water shoot out. Even better than one seismometer: a whole network of them.</p><p>"Seismology on Earth is almost entirely built on networks of data," Panning said. "I'd love to put seismometers everywhere."</p><div><div style="position:relative; padding-bottom:calc(56.29% + 44px)"></div></div><div></div><div></div>

Scientists have detected dozens of potential Mars quakes -&#160;and the early data suggests Mars may be less Earth-like than we thought

<p class="source"><span>Oskar Falck/Inter IKEA B.V.</span></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>An <a href="https://businessinsider.com/category/ikea">Ikea</a> designer spent several days living in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-desert-research-station-2013-4">Mars Desert Research Station</a>, a facility in the Utah desert designed to simulate life on Mars.</li><li><a href="https://businessinsider.com/category/ikea">Ikea</a> initially designed a line of furniture meant for small spaces based on the station.</li><li>Now, <a href="https://businessinsider.com/category/ikea">Ikea</a> has helped to redecorate the inside of the station itself using a range of its furniture, and photos show the result.</li><li><a href="https://businessinsider.com">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul><p>Deep in the Utah desert, a tiny, compact facility houses scientists who want to experience a simulated version of life on Mars. The furniture might look familiar.</p><p>Ikea <a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.proofpoint.com%2Fv2%2Furl%3Fu%3Dhttps-3A__eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com_-3Furl-3Dhttps-253A-252F-252Fikea.today-252Fsmall-2Dspace-2Dliving-2Din-2Dinfinite-2Dspace-252F-26data-3D02-257C01-257Cjanice.simonsen-2540ingka.ikea.com-257C84ac746f46c347bf13d208d76eab9308-257C720b637a655a40cf816af22f40755c2c-257C0-257C0-257C637099555500995063-26sdata-3DgVgBDdOhhvlz85VypXNgpNu2W7CH6aXf1bjfYTOkUDk-253D-26reserved-3D0%26d%3DDwMGaQ%26c%3D9wxE0DgWbPxd1HCzjwN8Eaww1--ViDajIU4RXCxgSXE%26r%3DfvMv2dzYq4PMlnFEXIanF76auj-SM8muCDCPNbxnmP0%26m%3DZSFenmz6j-MjsyY6YebeH6wl7fdbY_YtzL9tsm_v6S0%26s%3DIkgJm7OR9ZSF7D6fvZe24zvkmEBoCe9CRN40BxwNItY%26e%3D&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cjanice.simonsen%40ingka.ikea.com%7C7307f27d3b0944ec6d2408d76f0699ee%7C720b637a655a40cf816af22f40755c2c%7C0%7C0%7C637099946455310451&amp;sdata=WdvCFaAmJq6h1IrChMTjvUDJAXO%2Fp80TmUyNlhUekuQ%3D&amp;reserved=0">announced</a> this week that it has partnered with the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-desert-research-station-2013-4">Mars Desert Research Station</a> to decorate the two-story habitat with space-efficient furniture that could theoretically be put to use in future Mars colonies.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-desert-research-station-2013-4">research station</a> houses teams of six scientists at a time, who spend two weeks living off food and water rations and oxygen packs. They traverse the area surrounding the research station using all-terrain vehicles, collecting rock samples and taking atmospheric readings in a "dress rehearsal" for sending humans to Mars.</p><p>The Swedish furniture giant first began working with the Mars Society, which runs the research station, two years ago when Ikea interior designer Christina Levenborn spent several days living in the habitat. Levenborn designed a line of furniture for small spaces based on her time there, according to <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90436537/now-that-ikea-has-colonized-earth-its-going-after-mars?partner=rss&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&amp;utm_content=rss">Fast Company</a>.</p><p>Now, Ikea has provided a range of its furniture to redecorate the interior of the research station to envision how future Mars denizens might live. </p><p>Take a look at the inside of the research station:</p>

Ikea redesigned a tiny research station meant to simulate life on Mars - see inside

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Susan Walsh</span></p><p class="caption">President Donald Trump appeared to suggest that the moon is part of the planet Mars in a Friday tweet.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-donald-trump-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Donald Trump</a> sent a confusingly-phrased tweet that initially gave the impression he believed the moon was part of Mars</p></li><li>"NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part)," he wrote.</li><li>NASA officials have said bolstering their presence on the moon will be an essential step towards conducting further research on Mars.</li><li><span>"Exploration of the Moon and Mars is </span><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasas-exploration-campaign-back-to-the-moon-and-on-to-mars">intertwined</a>," <span>NASA writes on a section of their website titled "Moon to Mars."</span></li><li>Trump's tweet on NASA came shortly after a segment on Fox Business in which NASA's chief financial officer Jeff DeWitt discussed NASA's initiatives on the moon and their planned moon expedition in 2024 with host Neil Cavuto. </li><li><p>In March of 2017, Trump increased NASA's budget up to $19.5 billion, and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/13/18617559/nasa-trump-white-house-moon-return-budget-amendment-mars-1-6-billion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requested another $1.6 billion earlier this year</a> to help them carry out their 2024 moon mission, and future exploration on Mars. </p></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-donald-trump-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Donald Trump</a> sent a confusingly-phrased tweet that initially gave the impression he believed the moon was part of Mars.</p><p>"For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword>!" <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1137051097955102720" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he wrote. </a></p><p>NASA officials have said bolstering their presence on the moon will be an essential step towards conducting further research on Mars, as CNN's Haley Byrd <a href="https://twitter.com/byrdinator/status/1137054722781847552" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted on Twitter. </a></p><p><span>"Exploration of the Moon and Mars is </span><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasas-exploration-campaign-back-to-the-moon-and-on-to-mars">intertwined</a>," <span>NASA writes on a section of their website titled "Moon to Mars."</span></p><p><span>"The Moon provides an opportunity to test new tools, instruments and equipment that could be used on Mars, including human habitats, life support systems, and technologies and practices that could help us build self-sustaining outposts away from Earth," they add. </span></p><p>Media Matters' senior fellow Matt Gertz, who closely tracks Fox <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">News</keyword>, pointed out that Trump's tweet on NASA came shortly after a segment on Fox Business - one of Trump's most frequently-watched news channels - in which NASA's chief financial officer Jeff DeWitt <a href="https://twitter.com/MattGertz/status/1137055441001832450" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discussed NASA's initiatives on the moon and their planned moon expedition in 2024 with host Neil Cavuto. </a></p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-moon-landing-mission-budget-increase-request-2019-5" data-analytics-position="3">NASA says it needs a $1.6 billion 'down payment' from Congress to send astronauts back to the moon within 5 years</a></em></p><p>"When we went to the moon 50 years ago, it was what we call 'flags and footprints.' We went, walked around, collected some samples, and left. What we're doing now is establishing a sustainable presence on the lunar surface," DeWitt explained. </p><p>"We need to drive that innovation and complete those technologies to allow us to have a sustained presence on Mars because when you go to Mars, you're stuck there for 22 months. We have to prove on the moon we can have a sustainable presence there first to make sure its safe venture to do," he added, projecting NASA missions would be going to Mars in the 2030s. </p><p>July 20, 2019 will mark <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission</a>, in which American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people from Earth to walk on the moon.</p><p>In March of 2017, Trump increased NASA's budget up to $19.5 billion and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/13/18617559/nasa-trump-white-house-moon-return-budget-amendment-mars-1-6-billion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requested another $1.6 billion earlier this year</a> to help them carry out their 2024 moon mission, and future research and exploration on Mars. </p><p><strong>Read more: </strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/female-astronauts-nasa-2019-5" data-analytics-position="1">The most famous women in NASA history</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-3d-printer-mars-habitat-2019-5" data-analytics-position="4">NASA held a contest to design a 3D habitat on Mars, and the winner is a vertical pod that can be printed in 30 hours</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-rocket-scientist-explains-how-we-could-relocate-the-earth-2019-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A rocket scientist explains how we would relocate the earth to escape the expanding sun</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-opinion-programs-white-supremacist-rhetoric-great-replacement-2019-5">Fox News pundits are using white supremacist language tied to 'The Great Replacement' conspiracy theory</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Trump tweeted that the moon 'is a part' of Mars in bizarre statement criticizing NASA's spending - here's what we think it means

<br /> <keyword id="116095" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Indian-Space-Research-Organisation">Indian Space Research Organisation</keyword>'s <keyword id="6625456" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Mars-Orbiter-Mission">Mars orbiter Mission</keyword> (MOM), <keyword id="1506013" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="mangalyaan">Mangalyaan</keyword>, is just two days away from its much talked-about date with the <keyword id="6385434" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Red-Planet">Red Planet</keyword>. Scientists at ISRO have successfully tired-fired its main liquid engine at 2:30 pm (IST) on Monday. Soon after the test-firing of the MOM, the Indian space agency's <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword> page said, "We had a perfect burn for four seconds as programmed. The trajectory has been corrected. MOM will now go for the nominal plan for <keyword id="47638" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Mars">Mars</keyword> Orbit Insertion."<br />
<br />
India also became the first Asian country to reach the Martian neighbourhood earlier during the day. "Our navigators' calculations show that MOM has entered the gravitational sphere of influence of Mars around 9am," said ISRO’s Facebook page.<br />
<br /> Reports suggest that on September 24, Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> is scheduled to witness the historic occasion when the ISRO’s spacecraft will be inserted into the Mars orbit around 7:30 am at a distance of 423 km from its surface and 215 million km away (radio distance) from Earth. Researchers believe that this step will certainly boost up the morale of Indian space scientists.<br />
<br />
The Mangalyaan probe, which is India’s first interplanetary mission, has a Rs 450-crore price tag. The mission was launched on November 5, 2013 to find evidence of life on the Red Planet. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Mission-Mars-ISROs-Mangalyaan-Heads-For-Final-Destination/articleshow/42791735.cms">Earlier, we had reported that the mission is simply to test the ISRO’s ability to take something all the way upto Mars and make it go around the planet.</a><br />
<br />
If ISRO’s MOM reaches its destination successfully, India will become fourth country after the US, Russia and Europe to send a probe to Mars.<br />
(Image: indiatimes)<br />

India's Voyage To Mars: ISRO's Mangalyaan Wakes Up After 300 Days Of Sleep!

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OSIRIS_Mars_true_color.jpg">ESA / Wikimedia Commons</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Scientists from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Bologna may have found a lake of liquid water on Mars. </strong></li><li><strong> Satellite data suggests the water might lie underneath the surface of a polar ice cap.</strong></li><li><strong>The researchers used radar to probe the ice cap, and their new study suggests the potential lake could be 20 kilometers long.</strong></li></ul><p><br />We've heard it before - there may be a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-ice-sheets-nasa-could-help-colonize-planet-2018-1?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">major source of water on Mars, in ice sheets</a> that lie just under the red planet's. But according to a new study <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2018/07/24/science.aar7268" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published in the journal Science</a>, liquid water may exist there, too.</p><p>Researchers from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Bologna in Italy used a radar tool on the European Space Agency's Mars Express satellite to probe the planet's ice caps. They believe three years' worth of data indicates there could be a lake of liquid water under the caps that stretches 20 kilometers across.</p><p>The team, led by Roberto Orosei, said this may be the first time scientists have found liquid water that can remain in a liquid state for a prolonged period of time, rather than freezing. Elsewhere on the red planet, it is too cold for water to remain a liquid - Mars' <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/allaboutmars/facts/#?c=inspace&amp;s=distance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">average temperature is -81 degrees Fahrenheit (-62 degrees Celsius)</a>.</p><p><span>"If these researchers are right, this is the first time we've found evidence of a large water body on Mars," Cassie Stuurman, a geophysicist at the University of Texas who found signs of an enormous Martian ice deposit in 2016, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-water-is-buried-beneath-martian-landscape-study-says-2018-7">told the AP</a>.</span></p><h2>Searching for Martian water</h2><p>In their paper, the researchers suggested that the lake could lie about 1.5 kilometers below the ice cap's surface. But they are not yet certain whether there is really a lake there or how deep it could be. Until a human expedition or more sophisticated Rovers can investigate the polar region further, we won't know for sure. But for now, liquid water seems to be the most likely explanation for what researchers observed.</p><p><span>"I really have no other explanation," Orosei <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-water-is-buried-beneath-martian-landscape-study-says-2018-7">told the AP</a>.</span></p><p>Radar detection has proved unreliable for gathering information about Mars in the past. But after reprogramming the radar tool on the Mars Express satellite - called the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding, or MARSIS - radar pulses were able to penetrate the surface of the ice caps.</p><p>The tool measured how radio waves traveled and behaved when traveling through Mars' ice caps, then the satellite beamed that information to Earth. This gave the team an idea of the composition under the ice caps.</p><p>Time was also not on the researchers' side, however. They had to wait for the satellite to be in the right place to observe the caps at night time, a position that has only occurred 30 times in three years.</p><h2>Liquid water would have major implications for life on Mars and future human settlements</h2><p><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2174955-massive-lake-of-water-found-beneath-mars-south-pole-could-host-life/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Orosei told New Scientist</a> that a combination of calcium, magnesium, and sodium salts on Mars can lower water's freezing point, which might explain the possibility of a liquid lake.</p><p>If it exists, there's also hope that the water could potentially host life.</p><p>"It is not a place where life would be expected to have an easy time, but it is possible based upon terrestrial analogues," Orosei told New Scientist. The analogues he's referring to are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/atacama-desert-study-microbial-life-on-mars-2018-2?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">places on Earth that researchers have used to mimic Mars environments</a> to test conditions in which microbes could survive.</p><p>Finding a source of liquid water on Mars would also be exciting for the prospect that the red planet could one day host a human settlement. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-colonization-of-mars-sxsw-2018-3?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Both Elon Musk</a> and NASA have released plans to send humans to Mars, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/when-will-we-colonize-mars-nasa-timeline-2030s-2018-2?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">maybe as soon as the 2030s</a>.</p><p>But there are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-colonization-human-survival-radiation-food-biosphere-2018-4">huge barriers to any colonization efforts</a>, such as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astronaut-plants-air-food-water-life-support-2018-5">growing enough food and recycling waste</a>. Pre-delivered supplies and habitats could sustain human life on the barren surface for a year or two, some experts say, but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-outposts-are-doable-but-maybe-not-colonies-2018-5?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">long term colonization is a different matter</a>. Researchers have even highlighted concerns about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-colony-reproduction-complications-2018-5?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how reproduction would work on Mars,</a> should a self-sustaining settlement ever arise there, since life in space has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/space-effects-human-body-brain-bones-dna-2018-5">dramatic effects on people's health</a>.</p><p>Despite all these challenges, it's exciting that there could be an underground reservoir of water on Mars. Perhaps it could be tapped as a resource, or maybe it harbors undiscovered clues about alien life. </p><p>Plus, as Orosei <a href="http://sci.esa.int/mars-express/60516-mars-express-detects-liquid-water-hidden-under-planets-south-pole/">said in a statement</a>, this discovery may be a clue that <span>Mars has other hidden bodies of water that are still waiting to be found.</span> </p><p><span>"This is just one small study area; it is an exciting prospect to think there could be more of these underground pockets of water elsewhere, yet to be discovered," he said.</span></p>     <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pretending-live-on-mars-nasa-research-experiment-2018-1">What it's like to pretend to live on Mars for 8 months</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Scientists may have just found a lake of liquid water on Mars

<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><p class="caption">Two members of crew 128A roam the <keyword id="130981" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Utah">Utah</keyword> desert with air supply packs.</p></div>The San Rafael Swell in central Utah is a massive dome of layered rocks, surrounded by a Delaware-sized maze of deep canyons and multi-colored cliffs.</p>
<p><span>More than a decade ago, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/RobZubrin" target="_blank">Robert Zubrin</a><span>, author of "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/145160811X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=145160811X&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thebusiinsi-20">The Case for Mars</a>,<span>" whom we spoke to over the phone, </span><span>recognized the potential of this environment — and several others around the globe — to serve as a testing ground for manned <keyword id="47638" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars">Mars</keyword> missions.</span></p>
<p>[<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mars-desert-research-station-2013-3" target="_blank">See photos of the Mars Desert Research Station</a>]</p>
<p>Aside from an interstate that slices through the scenic landscape, this patch of desert sits virtually untouched.</p>
<p>The region's terrain and remoteness makes it one of the best analogs for Mars that exists on Earth.</p>
<p>Zubrin founded the <a href="http://www.marssociety.org/" target="_blank">Mars Society</a> in 1998, of which he is currently president, and built two simulated Mars exploration stations — one in the Canadian Arctic and one in Utah. The Arctic location is more "Mars-like," but has taken a backseat to Utah's Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), where it is less expensive to live and conduct experiments.</p>
<p>For two weeks at a time, a six-person team composed of scientists and students cuts ties with civilization to don bulky spacesuits, zip around on all-terrain vehicles, and collect rock samples.</p>
<p>The idea is for team members to operate as if they were really bopping around the Red Planet, from the clothes they would be required to wear outside of their spacecraft to the foods they would eat.</p>
<p>This is a dress rehearsal for sending humans to Mars, Zubrin told Business Insider, quickly brushing off the suggestion that it sounds an "awful lot like <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">space</keyword> camp with fancier equipment." </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">"It's not that at all," he said.</span></p>
<p><strong>This is not space camp</strong></p>
<p>In 2004, Jack Jones, an engineer at <keyword id="6360409" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="NASA">NASA</keyword>'s Jet Propulsion Laboratory worked with Zubrin on a <a href="http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/programmissions/missions/missiontypes/balloons/" target="_blank">solar-heated balloon designed to land on Mars</a>. Although the space agency decided not to fund the project, Jones described Zubrin as an "extremely enthusiastic, creative, and talented engineer."</p>
<p>As for Zubrin's latest project, the Mars research station "sounds like a fantastic simulation of an actual manned Mars planetary mission," Jones told Business Insider.   </p>
<p>Zubrin, 61, grew up during a period when America's leadership was engaged in a fierce competition to dominate space exploration.   </p>
<p>"I was 17 when we landed on the moon, and if anyone had told me then that I'd be 61 and we'd have not landed on Mars — or even that people were not going to the Moon anymore — I would have thought they were nuts," said Zubrin. "We were on the brink of opening up space, and we just stopped."</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Several companies are now betting on </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasas-wearable-robot-suit-2012-11">sending the first humans to Mars</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> by the end of the century. </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Recent space initiatives like </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mars-curiosity-rover-rock-sample-analysis-2013-3">NASA's Mars Curiosity</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> rover and </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/deep-space-industry-asteroid-mining-plan-2013-2">plans to mine an asteroid</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> have opened the door to a new era of deep space projects.</span></p>
<p><strong>The case for Mars</strong></p>
<p>People don't <em>need</em> to visit Mars. Then again, Christopher Columbus didn't have to risk his life to sail across the ocean in search of new land. But he did, and our global perspective expanded because of it.</p>
<p><strong><div class="image-container float_left" style="width:618px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source">Mars Desert Research Station</p><p class="caption">A view of the Mars Desert Research Station in the daytime.</p></div></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Humans are naturally curious. By exploring space, we not only fulfill an innate human desire, we also help society evolve by gaining information about the diversity of life in the universe.</span></p>
<p>Plus, Earth won't be around forever. If we challenge ourselves now, then "200 years from now there will be branches of a new civilization on Mars," said Zubrin.</p>
<p><strong>A dry run for Mars</strong></p>
<p>Beyond safety, staying true to the simulation has been Zubrin's main priority since he commanded the very first desert Mars crew about 10 years ago.</p>
<p>That means crew members cannot step outside of their cylindrical "space habitat" without the proper gear and air supply packs; they must repair their own equipment; handle fieldwork and lab work; grow their own food; and communicate with remote <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> teams.</p>
<p>"My main thing is figuring out how to conduct an effective field exploration while handling all constraints you would find on Mars," he said. "If you could get a really valuable sample by taking off the glove, I would say 'no, we'll come back tomorrow with the right tool to gather the sample with our space glove on.'"</p>
<p>It's about answering all the "what ifs?" that might pop up in a foreign and likely hostile environment.</p>
<p>For example, what are the most useful pieces of field equipment? An enclosed SUV that offers protection against the elements, or an open vehicle that requires the driver to wear a spacesuit, but provides the flexibility of being able to reach down and pick up a sample? And, do you put the whole crew on one rotation or on watches so they are up at different times?</p>
<p>Each team goes for two weeks at a time and sets their own goals. Some teams are less concerned about mastering the art of human space exploration; they would rather break character for the sake of science.</p>
<p>"Those are two different methods," said Zubrin. "If one team needed to stray from the simulation in order to test ground-penetrating radar, for example, they would do it."</p>

<p><strong>The human challenge</strong></p>
<p>Isolation, boredom, decreased activity, and lack of sleep are all concerns in sending astronauts on an exploration of deep space. </p>
<p>A 520-day simulated Mars mission conducted between 2010 and 2011 by Russian scientists found that being cooped up for that long <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-sleep-was-affected-in-a-simulated-mission-to-mars-2013-1">made the six-man crew sleepy, slow, and grumpy</a> — not good traits for astronauts.</p>
<p>NASA, too, has long claimed that the most formidable challenge humans would face on Mars would be isolation and boredom.</p>
<p>That's a complete mistake, says Zubrin. If you look at human history, there are plenty of instances where people were far more isolated than they will be on a trip to Mars. </p>
<p>NASA's finding was largely based on human factor studies of U.S. Navy enlisted men on a base in Antarctica.</p>
<p>"Those guys were bored," said Zubrin. "They didn't want to be there. They wanted to be in San Diego where they can go out on the pier on Friday night and pick up girls."</p>
<p>Test runs at Mars Society's research station in the Arctic, on the other hand, have found that overwork, not boredom, is the key challenge.</p>
<p>The Arctic team was primarily composed of scientists who were very driven. These researchers had waited a long time to be placed in this environment to do their research. They were so overzealous that they had to be ordered to stop working at night. </p>
<p>The Mars mission is "not about sitting in a room playing chess waiting for your 500 days to be up," said Zubrin.</p>
<p><strong style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The perfect crew</strong></p>
<p><strong><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:618px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdrsphotos/8411881020/in/set-72157632520478437">Mars Desert Research Station</a></p><p class="caption">A member of Crew 122 cruises around on an ATV.</p></div></strong></p>
<p>The reality is that a Mars mission would take at least two and a half years, not a brief two weeks in the remote desert.  </p>
<p>If the desert research station was playing by those rules, however, then the base would have been home to just four crews in the last decade, as opposed to 127.  </p>
<p>Zubrin argues that if the goal is make general inferences about how humans interact with each other under trying circumstances, then you need larger numbers of people. Otherwise, the data could be seriously skewed based on who was picked for the crew. </p>
<p>There are plenty of instances, he said, where a person performed well in one crew and bad in another.</p>
<p>To get involved, individuals or groups, typically from a university or foreign country, can respond to an annual open call for volunteers.</p>
<p>Although the society provides food, housing, and equipment, accepted applicants will have to shell out $1,000, while students pay $500.</p>
<p>Explorers have come in all different shapes and sizes: all men crews, all women, all Austrian, all American, mixed international, young crews, and old crews. The purpose is to find the ideal combination of age, race, skill, and personality types to make up the first human team that blasts off to Mars. </p>
<p>Zubrin acknowledges that MDRS is not the final word in Mars research. It should be supplemented by insights and studies from organizations, like NASA. </p>
<p>Based on that information, Zubrin believes the next step would be to pick four very promising crews based on different principles.   </p>
<p>It then becomes a game of survival of the fittest — placing crews under the most Mars-like environment for at least one year and enforcing the most Mars-like rules.</p>
<p>The team that performs the best, is the the crew you would want to send to Mars.</p>

Scientists Spent Weeks In The Desert Pretending They Were On Mars

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1509a/">ESO/M. Kornmesser</a></span></p><p class="caption">Illustration of what Mars would look like with water.</p></div><p></p></div></div>A trio of scientists says they've identified the best place to look for evidence of ancient life on Mars - one of the youngest lake-bearing basins ever discovered. </p><p>Though Mars has no liquid water today, the Red Planet was submerged under vast oceans billions of years ago. And where there's water, there's the potential for life.</p><p>Scientists suspected that after the oceans evaporated, that was it for water - and life - on Mars. But a recent paper published in the journal <a href="http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2015/07/28/G36895.1.abstract">Geology</a> says that's not the case. </p><p><span>Mars had a second wave of surface water about 3.6 billion years ago - 200 million years after scientists thought Mars had seen the last of its liquid water. This water, the researchers report, was located in a lake inside a basin near the Martian equator, about 100 miles from where NASA's Opportunity rover rests today. </span></p><p>It is one of the youngest lakes and therefore possibly one of the last liquid water sources to ever exist on Mars, the researchers report. </p><p>The discovery is exciting for the prospect of ancient Martian life, explains lead author Brian Hynek who is a <span>research associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at Colorado University-Boulder:</span></p><p>"Having a later stage of water on Mars is probably a good thing for the potential for life on that planet because it gave life more time to be conceived," Hynek told Business Insider. <span>"There was life on Earth when this lake was active so by that analogy, we can say there's potential that Mars had microbial life and this was a great place where it could have resided."</span></p><h2>Getting around a tricky problem</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/mro20091012a.html">NASA/JPL-caltech/University of Arizona</a></span></p><p class="caption">Crater in Meridiani Planum, where the researchers found evidence for one of the youngest lakes ever discovered.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The researchers are investigating the age and origin of hundreds of salt deposits across Mars to map how much water existed on the surface.  </p><p>"Just like on Earth, when salts are left somewhere, that probably means that water was there," Hynek said. "So, these are indicators that water was there in some form."</p><p>Estimating the age of these salt deposits is tricky. The way scientists determine the age of anything on Mars is by counting the number and measuring the size of impact craters in that region. Then they compare this information to similar regions on the Moon, whose age we have a better handle on.</p><p>But wind has eroded the regions where these salt deposits are located, which makes it hard to estimate their age. T<span>his latest paper is the first time anyone has ever calculated with any confidence the age of one of these salt deposits, Hynek said. </span></p><p><span>Using images taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting Mars since 2006, the team studied the terrain and geography around the basin. They found evidence to suggest that at one point, the lake grew large enough to spill over the rim of the basin, carving channels in its wake. </span></p><p><span>The researchers traced these channels to neighboring volcanic plains hundreds of miles away that are about 3.6 billion years old. Because the water channels over-cut the volcanic plains, they must be younger. That means the lake must also be younger than 3.6 billion years.</span></p><h2>Life locked in salt</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonneville_Salt_Flats#/media/File:Bonneville_Salt_Flats.jpg">Promking at en.wikipedia</a></span></p><p class="caption">Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah are similar to the salt deposits on Mars.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Right now, there are no plans to visit this basin in search for the potential for life. But Hynek hopes that this latest paper will make the basin a more popular touch down point for the NASA Mars rover scheduled to launch in 2020.</p><p>Hynek has a pretty good idea of where he'd look first:</p><p>"I think you'd want to target the salt deposits," he told Business Insider. "As the water evaporates away a lot of organic matter and a lot of microbial evidence gets encased in salts and is preserved for long time periods."</p><p>Though there was liquid water in the basin, there are still other factors that would ultimately determine whether life could have existed there, Hynek cautions. The lake's salinity, acidity, oxygen levels, and available nutrients for food are all important. </p><p>The lake had a relatively low salt content, which would have made it ideal for life, Hynek said. However, the other three factors are hard to measure without sending a rover there to scoop up the soil and analyze what's in it.</p><p>So far, this single lake is the only evidence for water on Mars around 3.6 billion years ago. Hynek plans to continue studying these salt deposits to see if there's more evidence of water on a younger Mars.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-martian-trailer-2015-6">Matt Damon is left to die on Mars in first trailer for 'The Martian'</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="BsZnVqdTouutVZa2jN-Yvla7lSvxjV28" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Scientists say they've discovered one of the most likely places for life on Mars

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-orbiter-best-images-15th-anniversary-2020-8">Mars</a> has a series of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-discovers-ocean-dwarf-planet-ceres-could-host-life-2020-8">saltwater</a> <keyword id="6407593" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lakes">lakes</keyword> beneath the glaciers of its southern ice cap, researchers say.</li><li>These hypersalty patches of liquid <keyword id="15300" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Water">water</keyword> could harbor microbial <keyword id="582933" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Alien-life">alien life</keyword>.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-perseverance-mars-rover-helicopter-search-for-alien-life-2020-7">NASA's Perseverance rover</a> is traveling to <keyword id="47638" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars">Mars</keyword> to search for signs of extraterrestrial life.</li></ul><p>Scientists have detected a series of saltwater lakes beneath the glaciers of Mars' southern ice cap. The researchers think the liquid in these lakes doesn't freeze and become solid, despite the low temperatures of Mars' glaciers, due to its extremely high concentrations of salt.</p><p>The Mars Express spacecraft, which has been surveying the red planet since 2005, had previously detected signs of a subglacial lake basin on Mars' south pole, but it was unclear whether the lake was liquid or what it contained.</p><div type="image" title="mars ice cap south pole southern" height="617" width="822" msid="78369786" hostid="261"></div><p>To find out, a group of Italian, German, and Australian researchers applied a radio-echo technique that Earth satellites use to detect subsurface lakes in Antarctica. They scanned the area multiple times from 2010 to 2019, then published their <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1200-6">results</a> in the journal Nature Astronomy on Monday.</p><p>The analysis confirmed the liquid-water nature of Mars' underground lake, as well as its extreme saltiness.</p><p>Elena Pettinelli, a professor of geophysics at Italy's Roma Tre University who led the study, told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/liquid-water-mars-new-research-indicates-buried-lakes-n1241234">NBC News</a> that scientists are "much more confident now" that these Martian lakes exist.</p><p>"We did many more observations, and we processed the data completely differently," Pettinelli added.</p><p>What's more, the researchers also found "a more extensive, complex scenario with ubiquitous water patches surrounding the subglacial lake," according to the study.</p><p>The discovery offers yet another possible habitat for life to persist on Mars.</p><h2>Ancient life may have retreated to underground lakes on Mars</h2><p>Scientists think the Martian surface was once rich with rivers, lakes, and seas, but all the surface water evaporated as a flow of particles from the sun stripped away the planet's atmosphere. Earth's strong magnetic field, by contrast, has allowed it to hold onto its atmosphere and its surface water.</p><div type="image" title="mars surface river channels water" height="1800" width="2400" msid="78370198" hostid="261"></div><p>Any microbial life that might have existed on Mars' surface might have over time migrated underground as water disappeared — perhaps to lakes like the ones beneath the red planet's south pole.</p><p>The new research indicates that such lakes could be common on the planet.</p><p>"The existence of a single subglacial lake could be attributed to ad-hoc conditions such as the presence of a volcano under the ice sheet, or some other situation unique to the specific location where we found the first subglacial lake," Pettinelli told <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/multiple-underground-lakes-of-liquid-water-have-been-found-on-mars">ScienceAlert</a>. "The discovery of an entire system of lakes instead suggests their formation process to be relatively simple and possibly common."</p><div type="image" title="mars surface north pole" height="1800" width="2400" msid="78370200" hostid="261"></div><p>Some scientists are skeptical, though.</p><p>Planetary scientist Jack Holt told NBC that the subsurface water Pettinelli's team describes is "at best, patchy wet sediment."</p><p>"But even that is a stretch," Holt said, since that Mars may simply be too cold for even subsurface, hypersalty water.</p><p>Plus, if these lakes were liquid, "there should be springs flowing out along the edge of the polar cap," he added, "and that is not the case."</p><p>It is not known whether Mars ever hosted life. To investigate that question , <keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> launched its nuclear-powered <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-perseverance-mars-rover-launch-2020-7">Mars Perseverance rover</a> in July. It's set to search for signs of ancient life on the red planet's surface and prepare Martian rock samples for a future mission that would return them to Earth. Perseverance is expected to land on Mars on February 18, 2021.</p><div type="image" title="mars rover perseverance helicoper ingenuity" height="1483" width="1977" msid="78369787" hostid="261"></div><p>"Is there life out there? We have, for 20 years, learned about the environment of Mars and are ready to ask that," NASA Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen said during a broadcast of the rover's launch. "For the first time in decades, [an] astrobiology mission? We're ready for it."</p>

Scientists detected a set of salty lakes on Mars, hidden below the glaciers of its south pole

<br /><ul><li>Scientists are using data from the first <keyword id="7562902" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="marsquake">Marsquake</keyword> recorded earlier this year to recreate the quake here on Earth in a simulator. </li><li>Understanding how ground motion works on Mars can help researchers understand the structure of the Red Planet. </li><li>During the simulation, they found that Marsquake were somewhere in between Moonquakes and Earthquakes — but there ares till a lot of other pieces to the puzzle still pending.</li></ul>Mars might be 225 million kilometers away but scientists have long tried to recreate the environment of the Red Planet here on Earth — and now, they're doing it with quakes. <br /><br />
  <div type="image" title="insight" msid="70340782" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;InSight on Mars&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



<br />Scientists are trying to a feel of Mars by recreating the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasa-spots-marsquake-on-insight-lander-mission/articleshow/69018433.cms">first Marsquake</a>, which took place on April 6 this year using a simulator — the '<a href="https://youtu.be/bSeoy8LBIt4">shake room</a>' — at the <keyword id="933841" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swiss-Seismological-Service">Swiss Seismological Service</keyword> (SSS).<br /><br />The team in charge of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/what-does-a-marsquake-look-like/">Insight</a> mission's Marquake Service at ETH Zurich, a Swiss research university, is recreating the tremors and seismic waves by using data collected by the seismometer on Mars.<br /><br />
  <div type="ExtQuote" text="The goal of Insight is to understand the structure of the planet of Mars. And the primary way that we are going to do that with InSight, is by measuring Marsquakes." auname="John Clinton, Head of the Marsquake Service at ETH Zurich"></div>



<br />The goal of the simulation was to compare the seismic activity on Mars to the seismic activity on Earth and the Moon.<br /><br /><strong>Getting a feel for Mars<br /></strong><br />In order to feel the earthquake to its full extent, the scientists amplified the signals from the first Marsquake by 10 million to make distant tremors, which were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasa-is-sending-a-new-solar-powered-lander-to-mars-to-check-out-whats-been-happening-for-the-past-4-5-billion-years/articleshow/63568749.cms">recorded by InSight</a>, to feel up close. On the actual <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/12-striking-facts-about-mars-that-will-make-you-a-fan-of-the-red-planet/articleshow/58948035.cms">Red Planet</a>, the amplifications are extremely low.<br /><br />
  <div type="image" title="marsquake" msid="70340769" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The visual simulation of the first Marsquake&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



<br /><br />"Mars isn't as simple as we had hoped. The ground motion is not like we see on Earth," said Martin van Driel, one of the seismologists at ETH Zurich working on the project.<br /><br />In the initials findings, the researchers feel that Marsquakes are somewhere halfway between earthquakes on and Moonquakes. But, there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle that still have to be put in place, according to the team.<br /><br />
  <div type="Youtube" id="bSeoy8LBIt4" title="Marsquake: How does it feel like?" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bSeoy8LBIt4/mqdefault.jpg"></div>



<br />Normally, it's the movement of tectonic plates that cause quakes. But, Mars doesn't have any plates. Even if it did, it was millions of years ago.<br /><br />Despite the planet being plate free, it's not shake free. So Insight's mission isn't just to monitor the rumblings on Mars but help <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasas-insight-lander-may-not-be-as-sexy-as-a-mars-rover-but-heres-why-the-mission-matters-for-earthlings/articleshow/66818815.cms">figure out</a> what could be causing them.<br /><br /><strong>See also:</strong><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasa-spots-marsquake-on-insight-lander-mission/articleshow/69018433.cms">NASA detects a quake on Mars for the very first time — using sound</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/theres-a-pac-man-shaped-crater-on-mars/articleshow/64256724.cms">There’s a Pac-Man-shaped crater on Mars</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/mars-orbiter-mission-completes-4-years-in-pictures/articleshow/65972664.cms">Mars Orbiter Mission completes 4 years: In pictures</a><br />

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