Reservoir of Liquid Water Found Deep In Martian Rocks (bbc.com) 28
Slashdot contributors Tablizer, radaos, fjo3, and dbialac highlighted a major discovery by scientists: a reservoir of liquid water hidden deep beneath Mars' rocky outer crust. The BBC reports: The findings come from a new analysis of data from Nasa's Mars Insight Lander, which touched down on the planet back in 2018. The lander carried a seismometer, which recorded four years' of vibrations -- Mars quakes -- from deep inside the Red Planet. Analyzing those quakes -- and exactly how the planet moves -- revealed "seismic signals" of liquid water... The Insight probe was only able to record directly from the crust beneath its feet, but the researchers expect that there will be similar reservoirs across the planet. If that is the case, they estimate that there is enough liquid water on Mars to form a layer across the surface that would be more than half a mile deep.
However, they point out, the location of this Martian groundwater is not good news for billionaires with Mars colonization plans who might want to tap into it. "It's sequestered 10-20km deep in the crust," explained Prof Manga. "Drilling a hole 10km deep on Mars -- even for [Elon] Musk -- would be difficult," he told BBC News.
However, they point out, the location of this Martian groundwater is not good news for billionaires with Mars colonization plans who might want to tap into it. "It's sequestered 10-20km deep in the crust," explained Prof Manga. "Drilling a hole 10km deep on Mars -- even for [Elon] Musk -- would be difficult," he told BBC News.
2 reasons for the Boring Company (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Good thing he owns a boring company--AND a space company!
Re: (Score:2)
The Boring Company,
Underestimating how deep a hole Elon can dig (Score:3, Funny)
Drilling a hole 10km deep on Mars -- even for [Elon] Musk -- would be difficult,"
Come on, the one thing Elon knows is that when he's in a hole, never stop shoveling.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Underestimating how deep a hole Elon can dig (Score:4, Informative)
10km isn't soil, it's rock. Most of mars crust is basalt, which will deter even the must persistent butter knife.
Re: Underestimating how deep a hole Elon can dig (Score:5, Insightful)
The hardness of the rock is an issue, but we drill through basalt on Earth all the time. The biggest challenges of drilling that deep on Earth usually relate to the high pressure at that depth. The pressure is caused by the weight of the rock. So if the rock weighs only 38% of what it does on Earth, then the pressure should also be lower, making drilling deeper easier. As it is, oil wells on Earth are regularly from about 6 to 10 km deep. So, presumably, a 10km to 20km well on Mars should be doable using similar technology.
Basically, this is just going to be a water well like on Earth, just deeper than most. Obviously it will be a bit more work to pump the water up from that depth. Plus, this water is probably going to not be fresh water, but some kind of brine. Of course, the various mineral salts, etc. dissolved in it may actually be a resource on Mars rather than a problem. We can certainly get fresh water from it through filtration and reverse osmosis or, in the worst case, boiling and distilling it. We will simply have to accept that access to fresh water on Mars will take more effort and energy than we normally have to expend on Earth.
The important thing about discoveries like this is that they show that Mars has all the in situ resources humans need to survive. There's water, which is vital for human life and growing crops. It can also be used to make oxygen. It's very thin, but there's nitrogen in the atmosphere and it can be extracted from the soil, and that can be used to make ammonia and urea, etc. for fixed nitrogen for plants. There's plenty of phosphate rock on Mars. There's also plenty of potassium-rich rock on Mars. Also, there will be plenty of boron, chloride, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, cobalt and zinc in the regolith or to be mined from rock to provide the other micronutrients plants may need. So we will be able to gather everything we need on Mars to grow crops and even feed farm animals. All we will need is energy, equipment and labor. This makes a big difference in supporting a colony there since we would not have to continuously ship food, water and oxygen. Whether we can build all the equipment and parts to maintain the colony locally or if they would have to be shipped there continuously is another story. Still, Mars has plenty of iron, and there's aluminum as well, and various other metals for alloying. There's also plenty of silicon and carbon. So there's no good reason we can't make steel and aluminum parts, as well as glass on Mars, as well as various kinds of concrete and ceramics. Even things like electric motors and all kinds of tools and instruments. Eventually, we might be able to make microelectronics there too. Fortunately, the electronics are small and light and can be shipped there in bulk pretty easily well before there are any chip fabs there.
Re: (Score:2)
Drilling a hole 10km deep on Mars -- even for [Elon] Musk -- would be difficult,"
Come on, the one thing Elon knows is that when he's in a hole, never stop shoveling.
Even when not in a hole, he's pretty good at shoveling ...
Re: (Score:2)
> a hole 10km deep on Mars
Sounds like a good place to send Musk. Heck give him sharks with laser beams there too.
could've told you that (Score:2)
DNA is the dirt between the stars. It gets on everything.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Well, first things first, I find your attitude of "screw any possible natives, they're useless primitives anyway" to be deeply upsetting here in the year of our Lord 2024.
But, that aside, to me it seems most likely that if there is, or ever was, life on Mars, it likely came from Earth anyway. Like, some C. difficile stuck determinedly to a strut of the Mariner probe, or maybe just some E. coli that got blasted out of Earth's atmosphere on the backscatter from the Yucatan meteor strike.
Re: (Score:3)
because the opposite happened, when Mars was a lush green planet with life and an atmosphere, like, 3 billion years ago, and Earth was still a smoldering volcanic swamp, something smashed into Mars and the life dirt (that what I'm calling DNA and organic molecules) got deposited on Earth.
Bleeble Blorp to you Sir.
Re: (Score:2)
"if there is, or ever was, life on Mars, it likely came from Earth anyway" ... "or maybe just some E. coli that got blasted out of Earth's atmosphere on the backscatter from the Yucatan meteor strike"
I can see that being a possibility. I can also see life having originated on Mars (or elsewhere) and getting ejected from Mars via a meteor strike and finding its way to Earth.
Re: (Score:2)
Crater dig? (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder if a recent meteorite impact hasn't brought some closer to the surface to be examined and/or mined.
Re: (Score:2)
I wonder if a recent meteorite impact hasn't brought some closer to the surface to be examined and/or mined.
If it's at the surface, it will sublimate away on a pretty short time scale.
Re: (Score:1)
What's the approximate rate? Is it linear, or does it sublimate faster near the surface? I wouldn't expect it would be at the surface, but it's easier for a probe to dig say 10 meters instead of 10 km.
Too late (Score:5, Funny)
A Saudi company already bought the rights to that water for Martian alfalfa farms. Go find your own water.
Re: (Score:3)
The Boring Company... (Score:2)
Marsa'dib? (Hmmm, needs work)
Musk? Bah he is a dilettante (Score:2)
mars rocks (Score:2)
Mars rocks like a pendulum do.