Water or frozen water resources on the planet are extremely important for manned Mars missions. Missions to be carried out near water sources that have already happened or already exist on the planet will play an extremely key role in the history of Mars. The new Mars map shared by the European Space Agency (ESA) shows us where the water is.
Created using data collected from OMEGA and NASA’s CRISM instrument, one of ESA’s Mars Express orbiters, the map shows the planet’s recent water and water mineral locations. What surprised the scientists was the abundance of watery minerals that emerged. Ten years ago, scientists knew of only 1,000 such locations on Mars, but the new map created by ESA has revealed hundreds of thousands of areas.
Water affected the geology of Mars
Scientists conclude that water has drastically changed the geology on the Red Planet. While studies cannot answer whether the water is present all the time or occurs in short periods, the new results offer researchers more options.
Planetary scientists thought there were several types of water-based clay minerals on “watery” Mars millions of years ago. However, this thinking is far from the results of the map. While it is possible that Martian salts and minerals may have formed later, the map shows that salt and clay minerals are much older in some locations.
Mars’ water didn’t just disappear
John Carter, who took part in the research, says that the transition from the watery times to the waterless times on Mars is not sharp. According to Carter, Mars has a long and diverse geological context, so simple inferences about the planet are impossible. However, it is observed that Mars exhibits various minerals in different environments, just like on Earth.
The resulting map reveals the planet’s composition of water and water minerals more clearly. In future Mars exploration missions, it is possible to make detailed investigations by landing at these locations. The only thing that prevents us from determining the history of Mars clearly is time for now. Manned Mars missions planned for the 2030s could be the answer to all questions.
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