What is the current evidence that Mars has had water and maybe life?
Our universe is huge, to say the least. There must be something out there, right?
We’ve seen Mars in movies, shows, books, and games. It is our go-to planet for imagination and space fiction. But, I think we’ve reached the point at which we can say that we might just finally get to see the red planet in real life.
The red planet has been our longtime destination. We’ve sent rovers to explore the unknown world so we know what we might just face if we were to send humans there.
But, for humans to thrive on Mars, there needs to be water.
Sojourner, Opportunity, Spirit, Curiosity, Perseverance, and Zhurong. These rovers have been to Mars. So, what did they find?
Sojourner identified rounded pebbles and cobbles on the ground, suggesting that mixtures formed in running water, during a warmer past in which liquid water was stable.
Opportunity showed that Mars had the wet and warm conditions in its ancient past that were potentially hospitable to life.
Spirit found extensive evidence of carbonate and hematite, minerals that are associated with water environments.
Curiosity found that ancient Mars had the right chemistry to support living microbes. Elements like sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon — key ingredients necessary for life.
Perseverance took surface-level images that supported scientists’ theory that the Jezero Crater once contained a deep lake.
Finally, Zhurong is expected to survey four aspects of Mars:
- topography and geological structure
- soil structure and possible presence of water ice
- chemical composition, minerals and rock types
- physical characteristics of the atmosphere and the rocky surface.
Apart from the rovers that were once or are currently on the surface of Mars, scientists from the Italian Space Agency reported the detection of a subglacial lake on Mars, the first evidence for a stable body of liquid water on the planet.
If we can gather enough evidence for habitable living on the planet, then Mars is full of potential.
“Mars is there, waiting to be reached.” — Buzz Aldrin
Let’s see what the future holds. 🚀
