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[igotthisguitar]

Immense Ice Deposits Found At South Pole Of Mars
By Will Dunham
Thu Mar 15, 3:00 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A spacecraft orbiting Mars has scanned huge deposits of water ice at its south pole so plentiful they would blanket the planet in 36 feet of water if they were liquid, scientists said on Thursday.

The scientists used a joint NASA-Italian Space Agency radar instrument on the European Space Agency Mars Express spacecraft to gauge the thickness and volume of ice deposits at the Martian south pole covering an area larger than Texas.

The deposits, up to 2.3 miles thick, are under a polar cap of white frozen carbon dioxide and water, and appear to be composed of at least 90 percent frozen water, with dust mixed in, according to findings published in the journal Science.

Scientists have known that water exists in frozen form at the Martian poles, but this research produced the most accurate measurements of just how much there is.

They are eager to learn about the history of water on Mars because water is fundamental to the question of whether the planet has ever harbored microbial or some other life.

Liquid water is a necessity for life ... as we know it.

Characteristics like channels on the Martian surface strongly suggest the planet once was very wet, a contrast to its present arid, dusty condition.

Jeffrey Plaut of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, who led the study, said the same techniques are being used to examine similar ice deposits at the Martian north pole.

Radar observations made in late 2005 and early 2006 provided the data on the south pole, and similar observations were taken of the north pole in the past several months, Plaut said.

Plaut, part of an international team of two dozen scientists, said a preliminary look at this data indicated the ice deposits in at the north pole are comparable to those at the south pole.

SEARCH FOR LIFE

CONT'd ...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070315/ts_nm/mars_water_dc (ETC)

[Gatsby]

Now if only they were hiring TESL instructors ....

I sure would like to get off this planet.

[VanIslander]

Brought to you by the same military-industrial complex behind the WMD in Iraq claim.

A precursor to the move to get billions more in taxpayers money to be invested in large contracts by private corporations supplying the "search".

It's big business.

[Hollywoodaction]

Isn't that old news?

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/28may_marsice.htm

[Gatsby]

Hollywoodaction

[NAVFC]

[mithridates]

[mithridates]

[mithridates]

[SPINOZA]

[NAVFC]

[mithridates]

[On the other hand]

[SPINOZA]

Sorry, I completely forgot about this.......

NAVFC

It depends what kind of Earth 2 you envisage. Earth II sounds very attractive to the casual observer I'm sure, but Full-on Earth II with breathable atmosphere and tolerable temperatures? The timescales are absolutely immense. The time required to produce an oxygen rich atmosphere via photosynthesis is over 100,000 years and even that is of course modest compared to the 2 billion it took here (so�..don�t hold your breath! ). Also, studies have been done to determine what Mars' environment would be like if it had an atmosphere exactly like Earth's. The surface temperature on the planet would be considerably warmer than it is now of course (average -60c now, less than -100c at the Poles in Winter) because the carbon dioxide content would be about 30 times greater. But, it would still be generally too cold to be habitable because of its greater distance from the Sun. However, if a vaguely suitable entity requiring breathing apparatus and other protection will do, that is manageable in a more reasonable timescale (1000 years).

Further, I'd love to know how many folks there are who deny the centrality of co2 to global warming yet simultaneously advocate that introducing C02 and other greenhouse gases to Mars' atmosphere is the key to warming Mars. A comically contradictory position. Whilst melting Mars� ice H20 and ice C02 is exciting and a good idea, we�d be far better investing in improving our planet in my opinion.

Mithridates

Haven't we known for some time that the poles (especially the north, if I recall, but also the South in copious quantities now as we found out in the OP) are a mixture of ice H20 and ice CO2?

[mithridates]