Massive Frozen Water Reservoir Found on Mars
Two spacecraft orbiting Mars have made a groundbreaking discovery of frozen water atop volcanoes near the Red Planet’s equator. The European Space Agency’s ExoMars and Mars Express missions have detected frost on Tharsis volcanoes, which are the highest volcanoes in the Solar System.
Scientists were previously convinced that frost would be impossible in this particular region of Mars. However, in early 2024, Mars Express confirmed the existence of water ice at the equator of Mars. The frost discovered is incredibly thin, measuring only the thickness of a human hair, but it spans a vast area.
It is estimated that around 150 thousand tons of water freeze and evaporate during the cold seasons on Mars, which is roughly equivalent to 60 Olympic swimming pools. This remarkable discovery sheds light on the presence of water on Mars and the potential for future exploration.
The discovery was made by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Mars Express orbiters, both launched by the European Space Agency. The ExoMars TGO arrived at Mars in 2016 and began its full science mission in 2018. On the other hand, Mars Express has been orbiting Mars since 2003 and used the TGO’s CaSSIS instrument to detect the freezing phenomenon.
This new finding opens up a new chapter in our understanding of Mars and its potential for sustaining life. The exploration of Mars continues to yield exciting discoveries and pave the way for future missions to the Red Planet.
