Will Mars, a candidate for human migration, create a water map?

The survey found no water or ice at a depth of 300 meters from the landing site of the Mars InSight rover. As a possibility, the scientists highlighted the need to create a map showing the distribution of water on Mars.

A research team from the University of San Diego in the US has suggested that there is no groundwater on the plains of Mars Elysium since NASA’s Mars Insight rover landed on the official channel on the 20th day.

InSight, which landed on the Elysium Plain near Mars’ equator on November 27, 2018, was designed to reveal the interior of Mars. InSight used the Internal Structure Seismic Experiment (SEIS) in April 2019 to observe the Hwajin Marsquake for the first time.

SEIS, which experienced a total of 1,300 volcanic earthquakes last June, has revealed through seismic analysis the fact that Mars’ core is liquid and its size, as well as the thickness of the crust.

The research team, analyzing seismic data from SEIS, found that the crust of Mars is porous and fragile, and the deposits are not connected to each other. In addition, in the case of the InSight landing site, it was calculated that the infill between the sediment particles at a depth of 300 m was mainly gas, and there was no ice, or even if it was 20% or less.

A spokesman for the research team said: “Water that existed on the ancient surface of Mars in the form of lakes or seas appears to have disappeared due to the decomposition of water vapor carried to the upper atmosphere by ultraviolet radiation, or its entry to Mars. I think it might be,” he said.

Indeed, in May 2008, NASA’s Phoenix Mars probe detected what looked like ice under the surface of the Borealis Basin, near the north pole of Mars. The European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) Mars Exploration Orbiter has detected the possibility of large amounts of water in the form of ice or minerals on the relatively shallow surface of the central Marineris canyon, near the equator of Mars.

If the research team’s claim is correct, it is unlikely that there was any form of water, at least around the InSight landing site. The research team’s position is that if observational equipment such as SEIS extracts more extensive data from the Martian surface, they can map the distribution of water on Mars as they do on Earth.

Mapping the waters of Mars has long been a subject of debate in the academic community. NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) are currently working on an international Mars exploration plan called “Mars Ice Mapper” that identifies liquid or ice. water. Buried underground on Mars. Ice Mapper, MIM) “In consideration.

Mars, along with the Moon, is a celestial body that is considered a candidate for human migration to the planet. Although the surface of Mars, which has a thinner atmosphere and has lost much of its magnetic field compared to Earth, is a hostile environment, it is shielded from radiation and could potentially support life in the presence of water, the researchers said. researchers. . If there is water or ice below the surface that can be easily extracted, there is a good chance that this will be useful for future manned missions to Mars.

NASA and the European Space Agency are currently working together on the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program. The Persevering rover, which landed last February, has been collecting rock samples from the surface. On July 30, both parties announced through their official channels that the review of the system requirements for the MSR has been completed and the Phase 3 mission to transport valuable samples collected by the probe from Mars to Earth has been confirmed.

NASA indicated at the time that it would use two small helicopters for the mission. In addition, the company announced that it will focus on the development of the Mars Life Explorer (MLE) mission, which over the next 10 years will collect samples from a depth of 2 meters in the high latitudes of Mars.

Reporter Chung Yang Engle @sputnik.kr