NASA, the U.S. space agency, has claimed that liquid water reserves exist deep beneath the surface of Mars, the planet often referred to as the “Red Planet.”
If confirmed, this discovery would be groundbreaking, as humanity has long dreamed of establishing settlements on Mars. This is the first time NASA has obtained reliable evidence of liquid water on the planet.
To explore Mars’ geological structure, NASA sent a robotic probe named InSight in 2022. Recently, the probe transmitted new data, based on which NASA announced in a statement on Sunday that liquid water has been detected at depths ranging from 11.5 km to 20 km beneath the Martian surface.
According to NASA’s official media outlet Space.com, Mars experiences earthquakes similar to Earth. By conducting multiple seismic tests during these quakes, InSight was able to confirm the presence of water beneath the surface.
Around the same time, two scientists from Hiroshima University, Ikuyo Katayama and Yuya Akamatsu, made a similar claim. In a statement on Sunday, Katayama mentioned that previous studies have already suggested that Mars had water billions of years ago. Recent Japanese research also indicates that liquid water might still exist deep beneath the Martian surface.
In 2018, NASA sent another robotic probe named SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) to search for water on Mars. However, despite operating until 2022, the mission was not successful in confirming the presence of water.