Possible Discovery of Liquid Water Underground on Mars

The European Space Agency has a spacecraft orbiting Mars called Mars Express. One of its sensors is a ground penetrating radar that can look beneath the surface of the planet. Depending on how the radar signal is reflected, scientists can develop a good picture of what lies beneath the surface.


Now ESA reports that a radar reflection from beneath the Martian Southern Polar Ice Cap indicates the probable presence of liquid water. Where we have found liquid water on Earth, we have found life. The surface of Mars is currently inhospitable to life. However, the subsurface should be more hospitable than the surface. If life existed on Mars in the past, it may have been able to evolve to do well beneath the surface and still thrive today.


We just need to drill one mile into the surface to find out.


Here's a link to the ESA announcement, http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_detects_liquid_water_hidden_under_planet_s_south_pole