Map of shallow subsurface water in Valles Marineris on Mars

On December 15 scientists from Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Russia revealed a discovery of an area with an unusually large amount of hydrogen in the Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars. Assuming the hydrogen is bound into water molecules, as much as 40% of the near-surface material in Candor Chaos region appears to be water. The discovery was made by neutron detector FREND on ESA&Roscosmos's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter orbiting Mars since October 2016. FREND is mapping the distribution of hydrogen in the uppermost meter of the planet’s surface. Hydrogen indicates the presence of water, being one of the constituents of the water molecule; it can also indicate water absorbed into the surface, or minerals that were formed in the presence of water.

While water is known to exist on Mars, most is found in the planet’s cold polar regions as ice. Typically water ice is not found exposed at the surface near the equator, as temperatures there are not cold enough for exposed water ice to be stable. Minerals seen in this part of Mars typically contain only a few percent water, much less than is evidenced by these new observations. “We found a central part of Valles Marineris to be packed full of water – far more water than we expected. This is very much like Earth’s permafrost regions, where water ice permanently persists under dry soil because of the constant low temperatures,” told one of the scientists involved in the study.

These are very inspiring discoveries for the future human colonization of Valles Marineris region we have imagined in our speculative Mars Colonization Timeline!

⇧ In the area C up to 40% of the near-surface material appears to be composed of water (by weight).

The most water-rich area in Valles Marineris region is located in Candor Chaos:

HERE is global-scale map of shallow subsurface water distribution on Mars published in 2019.

ESA's base on Mars by Martin Kornmesser

Picture of the Day 25/6/2019 - Concept image of European Space Agency's (ESA) base on Mars by German graphic designer Martin Kornmesser.

Map of shallow subsurface water distribution on Mars

On March 10 ESA has revealed the first results from ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter orbiting Mars since October 2016. Among the data there is the best map of shallow subsurface water distribution on Mars ever created. The map is made by orbiter's neutron detector FREND mapping the distribution of hydrogen in the uppermost metre of the planet’s surface. Hydrogen indicates the presence of water, being one of the constituents of the water molecule; it can also indicate water absorbed into the surface, or minerals that were formed in the presence of water.

• Blue areas - more water
• Orange areas - less water

Ice deposit in Korolev crater

Water ice deposit in Korolev crater at the northern polar plain on Mars. This recent image is taken by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express orbiter. Korolev crater is 81 kilometers (51 miles) in diameter and naturally traps the cold air in it continuously replenishing the ice deposit with fresh layers of ice. The ice sheet is up to 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) thick and it is estimated the crater holds about 2200 cubic kilometers (530 cubic miles) of water ice.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in HD wallpaper resolution)

Elongated cloud on Mars at Arsia Mons

On September 13 European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express orbiter spotted an elongated cloud on Mars near the Arsia Mons - a dormant shield volcano 12 miles high. The cloud stretches for about 930 miles (1500 kilometers) and hasn't dissolved for over a month. That's nothing extraordinary - similar clouds has been spotted on Mars in 2009, 2012 and 2015 at winter season. The giant Martian volcanoes, rising high into the atmosphere, are playing a role into creation of those kind of clouds.

Pressurised rover concept by ESA for Mars500

Picture of the Day 25/4/2018 - Pressurised rover concept by European Space Agency (ESA) for Mars500 study.