Slashdot Mirror
NASA Probes Reveal Vast Stores of Martian Ice
John Faughnan writes: "The BBC reports that a British newspaper has leaked stunning news from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Vast amounts of water ice are present on mars, "[if it] were to melt it could cover the planet in an ocean at least 500 metres deep." Researchers thought it would take a year to detect any water ice below the martian surface, but the huge quantity meant that weeks of observation were sufficient. The BBC notes that "The Mars Polar Lander was to touch down in exactly the right spot in 1999 and would have undoubtedly detected the ice had it not malfunctioned on the way down." This discovery will change plans for upcoming probes and may lead to a manned mission within the next two decades. The official announcement was scheduled for this Thursday prior to several publications."
If this probe detects ice in the first meter of soil from 60 degrees south to the pole, how could it find enough water to cover all of Mars to 500 meters? There must be assumptions not described here, or a math error.
This makes the colonization of Mars possible. This makes Terraforming possible. This makes fuel manufacturing easier. This makes oxygen generation easier. IF NASA plays this right we could easily be there by 2020. I just wish the money and the will exsisted because we have the technology to do this now.
There is nothing inherently safe about liberty. That's why so many people died protecting it.
Not just terraforming, but this makes a manned mission truly feasible. With huge stores of water available, we won't need to waste energy on moving as much. This means a manned Mars mission could be much cheaper.
That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
Easily acessible water ice is critical to making manned missions much easier. It's terrific for producing potable water (im assuming they'll filter it!), and can be broken down (via electrolysis?) into component Hydrogen (rocket fuel) and Oxygen (useful stuff). Zubrin's gonna have a field day with this, he's outlined an excellent;y thought out mission plan that hinges on ice below the surface. Now if we can just get those fresnel lenses or mirrors in orbit a la KS Robinson.......
Think your 2.2 ghz p4 is impressive? I've got chloroform molecules and an nmr machine!!! Mwahahahahahahaha!!!
Water is the single most important thing we could find on a planet. Our biology is carbon and water based, we need water for all biological processes. Ecologically, large quantities of water act as a temperature regulator for the planet - water is only found in liquid form over a very narrow range of temperatures, but in that form it is an especially good solvent, lubricant and transport mechanism. Chemically, water consists of hydrogen (pre-cursor to most chemical fuels, and one day, in the form of deuterium also to controlled fusion) and oxygen (also a fuel, and necessary for life!).
Remember, moving even a kilogram of mass out of the earth's gravitational field is very costly (in fuel and resource terms), so finding such an important resource "in place" is very exciting news, and could significantly accelerate mankind's expansion through the solar system and beyond.
Dan
Has anyone actually looked at a Mars map? I'm running the latest version of the Mars Simulation Project, looking at the planet in topography mode.
This planet has altitudes ranging from approximately -8000 meters to +22000 meters, with two very distinctive zones: around -100 W, mostly on the southern hemisphere, there is a huge, +5000 meters continent; the northern hemisphere is between -5000 and 0 meters; and there is a very impressive hole centered at 70 E and 40 S, between -7000 and -5000 meters, sourrounded by a 0 to 5000 meters zone - what happened there? A huge spacial hit?
Anyway, saying Mars would be covered by 500 meters of water is completely meaningless. I guess they took the quantity of water and divided it by the surface of Mars. They mostly want to impress people, I guess, but I for one would be more impressed if someone came with a new Mars map showing the areas where the "sea" would be once the ice was melted. There is an illustration there, but of course it doesn't take into account the "real" quantity of ice/water.
Believe it or not, NASA does try to sterilize probes for this reason. The original Vikings that went to Mars (not the ones that went to Vinland) were carefully cleaned, and even so, produced results that made some think life was there on Mars. IMHO, the jury's still out on that. (
and many others, Google it)
http://www.resa.net/nasa/mars_life_viking.htm
Pavlov wouldn't be so famous if he'd used a can opener instead of a bell.
Building a vehicle that would send a colony to Mars is not easy task, from what I've read NASA would have to build something or at least assemble parts in orbit. Unfortunately Joe Public has a major problem with nuclear -- he is scared shitless that if we have something nuclear circling the globe it will crash on Earth spreading radiation.
This is the point of my argument -- build a nuclear propelled rocket but assemble it in Moon's orbit which would provide safety in case of problems. I don't think anyone would complain if we accidentaly nuke the Moon since it a dead rock anyway. At the same time a base on the Moon would make for a good location for the people working on the construction of the rocket. Especially if US can put a base on the Moon before Chinese get there.
One other thing that should be noted is that if the water is ever leaked to the surface, along with an increase in heat via CO2 being pumped into the atmosphee, then there will probably be a reduction in the amount of dust in the atmosphere, as the iron binds to water droplets. This would modify the atmospheric conditions and probably reduce the number of violent storms. Also, a humid atmosphere would probably also make it more favourable to life, if there isn't any already there.
Without water it would be much more difficult to teraform the planet.
This is unresearched, but I believe that it is a probable scenario, based on the knowledge I have.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
The biggest obstacle to conventional terraforming, vs large enclosed habitation modules, is the solar wind. Mars doesn't have a strong enough magnetic field to stop it from slowly stripping away the atmosphere. I wander if it would be feasable to enclose the planet in a magnetic field by placing a network of guided stationary magnets, with overlapping fields, in orbit? For the time being, I agree with you that this discovery has more potential for making Mars into a manned pit-stop/science-outpost than terraforming.
On an off-topic note, I think Venus would be the superior choice of terraforming project, given a solar shade to cool it down, and some advanced biological engineering to sequester the excess co2 out of the atmosphere. Both currently only concepts, rather than reality.
It looks like the biggest roadblock to Mars colonization will not be air, water, or shelter, but microdust particles.
Simply put, Mars has a very active atmosphere, which is a big planetary grinder, for lack of a better word. Some of the dust on Mars is so fine as a result of the atmospheric dynamics that it poses a danger to humans.
How? Even though colonists would not breathe Martian air directly, the very small dust particles there will get into pressure suits and living quarters. Essentially, there is a danger that people would be breathing particulates and getting a Martian version of black lung.
We don't know the extent to which this issue poses a danger to settlers, but it is a very real one. Add to that the harsh conditions, the dangers of dust storms, meteor showers, and unknowns we can't forsee, colonization of Mars will be very difficult indeed.
Nova had something on once about how mold spores travel, they are in the upper atmosphere and have even been found in space! The point was they are still alive after all that, so a little ice, UV radiation and a near vacuum wouldn't hurt them on Mars.