Plenty of Water on Mars

http://www.nasa.gov

If humans ever decide to colonize Mars, it appears that there is an abundant water supply; unfortunately, it is not in the form of lakes, rivers, or even underground pools. It’s in the dirt, and eating a handful won’t quench your thirst.

At one time, flowing water was probably plentiful on the planet, but the only immediate water sources found currently are located at the planet’s poles, as ice. Mar’s ‘watery phase’ likely lasted until about four billion years ago.

Mars’ diameter is about half that of the Earth, its mass is about 11% of Earth’s, and its gravity is less than 40% of our planet: all these factors facilitated the loss of the atmosphere’s upper layers as they were blown away by two mechanisms; the impact of meteors, and a natural ‘boiling’ of gasses into space. But a planet’s atmosphere — especially the heavier gasses — can also be absorbed into the soil, which is probably why the dirt of Mars contains such a high percentage of water.

NASA’s Curiosity rover scooped up samples of Martian dirt, deposited the dirt in its oven-abdomen (into SAM, the Sample Analyzer at Mars instrument) and heated the samples to more than 800 ⁰C to drive off and measure the volatiles. Its analysis identified about two percent water by weight, which converts to approximately two pints (1 litre) of water per cubic foot (0.03 cubic meters) of soil.

This discovery leads me to believe that a human settlement on Mars isn’t quite as far-fetched as it seemed a short time ago; additionally, early indications suggest that there is no life on the planet, so a terraforming operation wouldn’t destroy life that was already present.

It also occurs to me that viewing a planet that is devoid of life should make us all realize that we are the custodians of a jewel in space, a remarkable world that is bursting with miracles.

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For more information on Mars and Curiosity:

Volatile, Isotope, and Organic analysis of Martian Fines with the Mars Curiosity Rover

The Petrochemisry of Jake_M: A Martian Mugearite

 Curiosity finds no sign of methane, the gas linked to life

Rover finds evidence Mars lost its atmosphere four billion years ago

Mars Curiosity: Facts and Information

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Mars opposition

The Earth will pass between the sun and the planet Mars today (Mars opposition), an event that occurs about every twenty-six months. On March 5 (Monday), Mars and the Earth will be at their closest, so this week is a good time to view the Red Planet with the naked eye (is this why the movie John Carter of Mars is opening this week?).

Mars will be visible as a bright orange-red dot in the eastern sky just after sunset; it can be identified as the only celestial object that doesn’t flicker. Mars will slowly rise until it reaches its zenith in the southern sky at about midnight (PST).

If you have a telescope, you should be able to view Mar’s surface features.

The Slooh Space Camera will provide a live-feed of the Mars opposition tonight, beginning at eight o’clock PST.

[Image from the Hubble Space Telescope, found here]