![]() A cup of liquid water transported Star Trek-style to the surface of Mars would instantly freeze or boil (depending on the local combination of temperature and pressure). ![]() The low temperature of Mars conspires with the planet's thin atmosphere (it's 100 times thinner than Earth's) to make water possible in only two forms: solid ice and gaseous vapor. Sign up for our EXPRESS SCIENCE NEWS delivery If so, life-sustaining ice and water might exist even today below the Martian surface - water that could potentially support a human mission to Mars. Scientists hypothesize that liquid water burst out from underground, eroded the gullies, and pooled at the bottom of this crater as it froze and evaporated. We expect the ground to be frozen 3 to 6 km deep."Ībove: Martian gullies in Newton Crater. "At high latitudes, the temperatures are 70 to 100 degrees centigrade below freezing. "We have conditions on Mars that seem to forbid liquid water very close to the surface," said Michael Carr of the USGS at the June 22, 2000, NASA press conference. What was amazing is that water may be present as a liquid very near the planet's surface and occasionally on top of the surface when underground deposits burst forth for a brief flash flood. There may even be enough frozen water beneath Mars' surface to fill a large ocean if melted. There are trace quantities of water vapor in Mars' atmosphere and substantial amounts of water ice at the martian poles. Researchers have known for years that water exists there. J- Last week when scientists revealed dramatic new pictures of flood-like gullies on Mars, the big surprise wasn't that the Red Planet might harbor water.
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