All articles tagged with #water discovery
China’s Mars rover Zhurong has discovered evidence that liquid water persisted on Mars much later than previously believed, indicating the planet may have had habitable conditions for hundreds of millions of years longer, which has significant implications for understanding Mars’ climate, geology, and potential to support life.
Recent discoveries in Brazil and Botswana suggest that a vast amount of water may be trapped deep within Earth's mantle, stored in minerals like ringwoodite between 410 and 660 kilometers below the surface. This finding could significantly alter our understanding of Earth's water systems, the deep water cycle, and the dynamics of plate tectonics, potentially impacting theories about the planet's long-term behavior.
Scientists have discovered a massive reservoir of water hidden 400 miles beneath the Earth's surface, contained within a blue rock called ringwoodite in the Earth's mantle. This reservoir is three times larger than all the oceans on the Earth's surface and was found using seismometers to measure earthquake waves. The discovery could help explain Earth's formation and the origin of its water, suggesting a whole-Earth water cycle and potentially reshaping our understanding of where Earth's water came from.
NASA and the European Space Agency are in a modern-day space race to land on the moon's previously unexplored southern hemisphere in search of water, with plans to establish a permanent presence and utilize the resource for hydration, oxygen, and fuel. Other countries like Russia, China, India, and Japan also have missions planned for the region. The discovery of water on the moon's surface could significantly impact long-term plans for human presence and exploration. NASA is set to launch its lunar lander, Odysseus, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in a second attempt to reach the moon's south pole after a previous launch failed.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has detected water in the atmosphere of exoplanet GJ 9827D, the smallest planet of its kind to reveal such a discovery. The finding, made possible through atmospheric detection, represents a landmark discovery and brings astronomers closer to characterizing Earth-like worlds. The discovery, detailed in a new study, suggests the possibility of a "water world" or a hydrogen-rich atmosphere with water vapor. The observation of water is seen as a gateway to additional discoveries, with potential for further insights from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
India's Chandrayaan-1 mission, launched in 2008, made a significant discovery by detecting water and hydroxyl on the Moon's surface. The mission included the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), which was released to impact the lunar surface near the Shackleton Crater. MIP captured images, analyzed atmospheric components, and utilized a laser altimeter, providing initial indications of water's presence. MIP's revelation of lunar water predates NASA's confirmation, highlighting the significance of the discovery. The mission's success paved the way for future lunar missions, including Chandrayaan-3.