Scientists found water reserves deep in Mars' crust using InSight data, suggesting potential for life—but challenging drilling depths.
Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Why Trust Us? Although Mars lost its surface oceans billions of years ago, a new study from UC Berkeley suggests that there's lots of water deep within the planet's crust. After analyzing data gathered from NASA's InSight lander, the team's mathematical models have suggested that water trapped with fractured igneous rock could cover the planet in a one-mile-thick ocean. Sadly, this water is located roughly 7 to 13 miles below the surface—a drilling depth that'd be incredibly difficult on Earth, let alone Mars. It's no secret that Mars contained—and currently contains—lots of water. Before the planet lost most of its atmosphere and its magnetic field, Mars likely contained flowing rivers and oceans much like its blue marble neighbor next door. The Red Planet eventually lost some H 2 0 to evaporation, but a new study suggests that a lot of water is still locked away deep within the planet's crust. Analyzing seismic data gathered from NASA's InSight lander, which arrived at Mars at the tail end of 2018, scientists from the University of California Berkeley concluded that it's likely that Mars contains enough water deep within its crust to cover the entire planet with an ocean nearly one mile thick. The results of the study were published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Scripps Institution of Oceanography A slice of the Martian crust, detailing the fractured igneous rock that contains…