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Potential Subsurface Lakes on Mars May be Oxygen-Rich

posted by chromas on Tuesday October 23 2018, @07:33AM   Printer-friendly
Science

takyon writes:

Mars may have enough oxygen underneath its surface for life

[A] new study in Nature Geoscience posits that it's possible that Mars may have enough oxygen to harbor life under its surface.

The team was led by Vlada Stamenković from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and their findings stemmed from two different discoveries. We know there's a possibility that there are subsurface lakes of briny water on Mars; one in particular may be located under the Martian polar ice cap. This means there's a lot of potential for oxygen within these lakes, if they exist.

Back in 2016, the Mars Curiosity rover discovered that Mars may once have had an oxygen-rich atmosphere, but the loss of its magnetic field meant that the bulk of its surface oxygen escaped. However, there is still oxygen within the planet's rocks which means that it may be present underneath the surface of the planet.

Previously: Liquid Water Lake Detected Underneath Polar Ice on Mars

Original Submission

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Liquid Water Lake Detected Underneath Polar Ice on Mars 17 comments

fritsd writes:

The Mars Express mission orbiting Mars (not the Beagle 2 part that crash-landed) has discovered liquid water in the south polar region of Mars.

The orbiter has been patiently circling Mars since 2003, using its ground-penetrating radar to map the surface up to a certain depth.

And now the ESA scientists have found a bright spot that they think is an underground lake.

Also at BBC, Science Magazine, Sky & Telescope, Ars Technica, and National Geographic.

Original Submission

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  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday October 23 2018, @09:59AM (2 children)

    by Bot (3902) on Tuesday October 23 2018, @09:59AM (#752422) Journal

    You struggle with surviving in honduras and you want to colonize mars...

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    Account abandoned.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday October 23 2018, @10:41AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 23 2018, @10:41AM (#752426) Journal

      Sue, go for it, Bot. Like... now it would be a good moment. Later we'll be too many there already.

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    • (Score: 4, Funny) by takyon on Tuesday October 23 2018, @05:47PM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday October 23 2018, @05:47PM (#752545) Journal

      I think the bigger problem is finding any existing Mars life before humans trash the place.

      So we'll be dousing your robotic brethren in deadly chemicals and radiation.

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      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
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