Since Nasa's Viking Mission tested Martian soil samples back in the 1970s, we've known the surface of Mars to be a desert – inhospitable to life as we know it. But as missions to Mars focussed on what lies beneath the surface, a different picture has started to emerge.
This discovery of water beneath the planet's South Pole is the result of radar echoesthat were picked up by an instrument on a spacecraft that's been orbiting Mars for 15 years. To stay liquid beneath the long-frozen surface of Mars, the researchers say this sub-glacial lake must have huge amounts of salts dissolved in it.
Its extreme cold and saltiness would make it a very harsh environment for any living thing. But the lead researcher, Professor Roberto Orosei from the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, said the existence of organisms there, was not impossible.
To search for life in this newly discovered lake though, scientists will need to send a robot that's able to drill through the mile of ice encapsulating it. But at least the teams looking for life on the Red Planet will now know where to start their search.
2. How has this newly-discovered underground lake been able to stay liquid for so long?
3. What would a robot need to be able to do in order to see if life exists in the lake?
4. True or false? It has taken 15 years for a spacecraft to identify this water on Mars.
3. 答案
1. How have missions to Mars changed over time? Missions to Mars have started to focus on what lies beneath the surface.
2. How has this newly-discovered underground lake been able to stay liquid for so long? Researchers believe it must have huge amounts of salt dissolved in it.
3. What would a robot need to be able to do in order to see if life exists in the lake? A robot would need to drill through a mile of ice encapsulating the lake.
4. True or false? It has taken 15 years for a spacecraft to identify this water on Mars. True. A spacecraft that's been orbiting Mars for 15 years has only just discovered water beneath the planet's South Pole.