Significant amount of water hiding under the surface of Mars have been discovered by the scientists, inside the Red Planet’s Valles Marineris. About 40 percent of material found near the surface of the canyon could likely be water molecules.
The hidden reservoir is spread over 45,000 square kilometres – close to the size of Haryana state.
The discovery was made by Trace Gas Orbiter under the guidance of the European Space Agency (ESA).
How was the discovery made?
There were several signs of water molecules picked up by the orbiter’s Fine Resolution Epithermal Neutron Detector (FREND) – an instrument designated to survey Mars’ landscape and map the presence of hydrogen hiding in Mars’ soil.
With what seems to be an abundance of water in Valles Marineris, India has taken a major step towards establishing a source of water on the planet and furthering the possibility of life on Mars.
