A new study has curbed the chances of humans finding life on Mars. According to the study, conducted by the researchers at the University of California San Diego, Mars’ subsurface has little to no evidence of water. The surprising results were derived after studying the seismic data from NASA’s Mars InSight mission. The Mars InSight lander is located on Elysium Planitia, a flat smooth surface near the Martian equator. The InSight lander studies the subsurface of the red planet digging roughly 300 meters beneath the landing site.
The seismic data revealed that there is negligible evidence of water. “We find that Mars‘ crust is weak and porous. The sediments are not well-cemented. And there is no ice or not much ice filling the pore spaces,” said Vashan Wright, co-author of the study, in a statement.
Wright, however, stated that these findings do not eliminate the idea of ice existing or contributing to other minerals.
Researchers believe that water does not exist in the form of liquid but is part of the mineral structure. The study’s co-author, Michael Manga, from the University of California Berkeley, has explained that if water makes contact with rocks, it produces a brand-new set of minerals like clay.
Addressing the observation, Michael added, “There is some cement, but the rocks are not full of cement. The lack of cemented sediments points to an acute water scarcity 300 metres below the landing site of InSight’s probe spacecraft.”
The Mars InSight mission was initiated in 2018 with the aim to study Mars’ quakes. The instruments, on the lander, measure the vibrations on the surface of the red planet.
Wright and the team have studied these vibrations using rock physics computer modelling to deduce which type of minerals these vibrations travel through.
Different minerals would affect the seismic velocities in a certain way. Simulations that the rock model ran showed that the subsurface consisting mostly of uncemented minerals. Scientists believe that if life existed on Mars, it would be on the subsurface since it will have a protective layer to keep out radiation. Now, the researchers are looking forward to a sample-return mission that would make it easy for them to study the surface better.