Saline water in Mars?

In mid September, researchers found evidence of phosphine - a life harbouring gas - on Venus. Now, a new research published in Nature Astronomy suggests the existence of not just one super salty lake but three such water bodies near the Red Planet's south pole.

Milestones

Mars Express * Launch date 02 Jun, 2003 * Arrival at Mars Dec 2003 

Major goals * Image the entire surface at high resolution (10 metres/pixel) * Produce a map of the mineral composition of the surface at 100 metre resolution * Map the composition of the atmosphere and determine its global circulation.

Mars Express Data - Researchers made the new discovery using radar data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars-orbiting spacecraft, Mars Express.

MARSIS help * Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS), a radar instrument on Mars Express helped researchers to probe the planet's southern polar region * The instrument can send radio waves that bounce off layers of material in the planet's surface and subsurface * The reflected signal suggests the kind of material that is present at a particular location.

Confirms lake identified in 2018 - Italian scientists reported their findings on 28 Sep, two years after identifying what they believed to be a large buried lake. In the latest study, scientists provide further evidence of this salty underground lake and also identified three smaller bodies of water surrounding the lake. "We identified the same body of water but we also found three other bodies of water around the main one" - Elena Pettinelli, Planetary Scientist, University of Rome.

Strong evidence

The 2018 find needs further evidence for confirmation of the existence of any water body. But the current study comprises 134 observations made between 2012 and 2019. Scientists estimate the lake to 20 km to 30 km across and buried 1.5 km beneath the icy surface.

The new discovery increases the possibility of finding microbial alien life on the Red Planet.

Tailpiece.

Got up at 6, the chores and was ready by a half past 9. Washing machinex of bed linen completed well before the power interruption from 0925 - 1725 hrs, for maintenance. This was the second in this electrical circle. 

Spoke to my cousins Kala, Sindhu, Kannan and Leela chittamma and caught up with all of them; they were interesting interactions!