Liquid water detected on Mars raises hopes of life

What happened

Scientists have found evidence of liquid water deep below the arid surface of Mars, raising hope of discovering life on the Red Planet. A recent study, based on seismic measurements taken by NASA's InSight lander, suggests that vast quantities of water may still be trapped within rocks up to 12 miles below the Martian surface.

Who said what

Researchers said in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that analyzing the speed of the recorded Martian temblors pointed to underground water, likely the subterranean remnants of lakes, rivers and oceans that covered the Martian surface 3 millions years ago. "The ingredients for life as we know it exist in the Martian subsurface if these interpretations are correct," Vashan Wright, a lead scientist at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said to Reuters. 

What next?

The researchers said their findings and future analysis will help humans understand Mars' aquatic history and assess "in situ resource utilization for future missions." But the discovery of liquid water is only of limited utility for "billionaires with Mars colonization plans," the BBC said. "Drilling a hole 10 kilometers deep on Mars — even for [Elon] Musk — would be difficult," said Michael Manga, one of the study co-authors and a professor at UC Berkeley.

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