Ho, ho, ho... Mars had snow!

Scalloped Surface of Utopia Planitia   (NASA/JPL photo)

Once upon a time, you could have dreamed of a White Christmas on Mars.  These days, you might have to settle for a Martian ice sheet the size of New Mexico.

Anyone who has ever carried a bucket of water knows that it can feel quite heavy.  Imagine having to transport survival amounts all the way to Mars.  Not sure that rockets would get very far with that kind of a burden on board.

Scientists were therefore thrilled when “polygonal cracking and scalloped depressions” in the Martian landscape indicated the presence of subsurface ice.  Better yet, this aquatic stash is present within Utopia Planitia, a “more temperate” region that bodes well for human settlement.

This discovery would not only provide future astronauts with “something to drink,” but could also yield “oxygen and hydrogen for rocket fuel.”   

Resources

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/25/science/mars-ice-sheet.html?_r=0 

Copyright December 2, 2016 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved