Why water on Mars is so significant
Enough water has been found to cover the surface of the Red Planet – but there's a catch

David Bowie famously pondered whether there is life on Mars – and we might be one step closer to answering that question.
Enough water to cover the surface of Mars has been discovered within the crust, said The Sun, with profound implications for our understanding of the planet and potentially providing "proof of alien life".
What has been found?
"Once upon a time", said Space, Mars had "lots of liquid water" on its surface, with oceans, lakes and rivers, "but the water disappeared about 3 billion years ago". This means Mars rovers have explored "dried up lakebeds and empty river channels".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But the data from a NASA mission between 2018 and 2022 has found evidence of an underground reservoir of water. The space agency's lander carried a seismometer, which "recorded four years' of vibrations – Mars quakes – from deep inside the Red Planet", said the BBC.
The team used the same techniques used to search for water on Earth, or to look for oil and gas. They were excited to make their discovery but "there's a problem", said Forbes.
This water is "deep", explained Space – "very deep." It is between 11.5km and 20km deep (7.1 and 12.4 miles) and there is no water at all in the crust above 5km deep (3.1 miles).
Why does this matter?
Despite their inconvenient depths, if the aquifers are there, they may "provide new insights into the dynamics of Mars’s desiccation", said The Economist, and if Mars "ever was the abode of life", they "may be the habitat of its last survivors".
We "haven't found any evidence for life on Mars", said professor of planetary science Michael Manga of the University of California, Berkeley, but "at least we have identified a place that should, in principle, be able to sustain life".
Have you ever wanted to live on Mars? This latest discovery might bring the possibility closer. Exploring on The Conversation "what it would take" to transform Mars' "barren landscape" into "a life-friendly world", Sven Bilén explained that humans would need "liquid water, food, shelter and an atmosphere with enough oxygen to breathe and thick enough to retain heat and protect against radiation from the Sun".
What next?
Don't put your house on the market just yet because to reach the water would "require drills far beyond anything that the current generation of Mars robots could carry", said The Economist, and "even on Earth it would be hard".
Despite this, space scientists are thrilled by the development. The exploration may be expanded. Further seismometers could be sent to Mars and other planets and moons within our solar system in the future, said CNN, and "spreading them out across Mars" would reveal variations within the planet’s interior and provide a greater window into its diverse and complex history.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
Sex, drugs and a royal ruckus: the US play with a future gay Prince George
Talking Point The controversial off-Broadway show is a hit with audiences in New York
-
Labour's brewing welfare rebellion
The Explainer Keir Starmer seems determined to press on with disability benefit cuts despite a "nightmare" revolt by his own MPs
-
A potentially mutating bat virus has some scientists worried about the next pandemic
Under the Radar One subgroup of bat merbecovirus has scientists concerned
-
The treasure trove of platinum on the moon
Under the radar This kind of bounty could lead to commercial exploitation
-
Possible dwarf planet found at edge of solar system
Under the radar The celestial body has an unusual orbit
-
Why Elon Musk's satellites are 'dropping like flies'
Under The Radar Fierce solar activity destroying Starlink satellites
-
Why is Nasa facing a crisis?
Today's Big Question Trump administration proposes 25% cut to national space agency's budget in 'extinction-level event'
-
Full moon calendar: dates and times for every full moon this year
In depth When to see the lunar phenomenon every month
-
How to see the Lyrid meteor shower
The explainer A nice time to look to the skies
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
Speed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocket
Speed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes