Forums L2 Sign Up SLS/Orion SpaceX Commercial ISS International Other For Mars colonization, new water map may hold key of where to land

nasaspaceflight.com ^ | December 12, 2019 | Chris Gebhardt

[BenLurkin]

There are no oceans or rivers or lakes like there are on Earth. But new research garnered from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey missions reveal an array of water ice deposits that could greatly aid future human exploration endeavors.

The new research, published in Geophysical Research Letters, revealed two large bands – or belts – of water ice located less than one meter below the Martian surface around Mars’ polar regions.

The depth of this water ice ranges from 2.3 centimeters (1 inch) to 0.8 meters (or just under 3 feet).

For the deposits located 2.5 centimeters under the Martian topsoil, “You wouldn’t need a backhoe to dig [it] up. You could use a shovel,” said Sylvain Piqueux of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the study’s lead author.

Even the water ice located 0.8 meters under the Martian surface would be accessible to future astronauts on the Red Planet.

These new findings, along with the growing database of research from the international fleet of Mars orbiters and rovers is helping Mars mission planners with early initiatives of identifying suitable areas on the Red Planet where human missions should land.

[BenLurkin]

[shotgun]

“You wouldn’t need a backhoe to dig [it] up. You could use a shovel,” said Sylvain Piqueux “

Granted at 2.5cm that is only an 1-inch, but who is going to be working that shovel, in a space suit, in a harsh environment Sylvain?

This reminds me of my wife who always says every time I start digging a hole on my property “good thing WE got easy digging on the farm”. I’m still trying to figure out who this “WE” is...

[Red Badger]

The difference in gravity helps............but the ground is frozen ........

[Cold Heart]

Mars is at “peak” water before we’ve even started:)

[Equine1952]

Even being willing to ask that question shows you’ve been married a day or two.

Young people really believe mars is their only hope. Our education systems are useless.

[cgbg]

lol

“We” better be robots on Mars—otherwise get ready to stack up the corpses.

(NASA hasn’t even been able to land a man/er person on the moon and get them back in one piece for fifty years. There is no evidence they can do it today—none. When they get that done then they can start blabbing about Mars.)