Mars Probably Has Liquid Water (Too Bad Its Very Salty)

(Image: Salty water droplets on Phoenix Mars Lander. Credit: NASA) 

With temperatures plunging below -100 degrees (in both Fahrenheit and Celsius), Mars is not exactly known as warm and friendly place to live upon.

While the red planet does boast an abundance of ice, it looks as if scientists have discovered that liquid water can exist upon its surface--in an extremely salty form.

(SpaceRef) Temperature fluctuation in the arctic region of Mars where Phoenix landed and salts in the soil could create pockets of water too salty to freeze in the climate of the landing site, Renno says.

Photos of one of the lander's legs show droplets that grew during the polar summer. Based on the temperature of the leg and the presence of large amounts of "perchlorate" salts detected in the soil, scientists believe the droplets were most likely salty liquid water and mud that splashed on the spacecraft when it touched down. The lander was guided down by rockets whose exhaust melted the top layer of ice below a thin sheet of soil. [...]

The wet chemistry lab on Phoenix found evidence of perchlorate salts, which likely include magnesium and calcium perchlorate hydrates. These compounds have freezing temperatures of about -90 and -105 Fahrenheit respectively. The temperature at the landing site ranged from approximately -5 to -140 Fahrenheit, with a median temperature around -75 Fahrenheit. Temperatures at the landing site were mostly warmer than this during the first months of the mission.

Perchlorate salts are not exactly healthy for humans, and their presence on Mars comes with a double blessing.

While this means that future colonists may have an easier time storing water (at least in liquid form), it also means that it will have to be heavily filtered if humans (not to mention our animal friends) are to ever drink it.

Confirmed: Moon Is "As Wet" As A Terrestrian Desert

While this comes to no surprise based on last years analysis, it looks as if Japan's lunar satellite Selene confirms what many scientists have suspected all along.

(Moon Daily) "The surface can tell us a lot about what's happening inside the Moon, but until now mapping has been very limited," C.K Shum, professor of Earth sciences at Ohio State University, said in the February 13 issue of Science.

"For instance, with this new high-resolution map, we can confirm that there is very little water on the Moon today, even deep in the interior. And we can use that information to think about water on other planets, including Mars." [...]

The hard surface suggests very little water, researchers said. If there were water, even deep within the Moon, the surface would be more flexible than it was shown to be.

Since hauling water from the homeworld would probably increase the cost of a lunar outpost, future settlers may choose to simply import hydrogen from Earth instead (as it is much lighter).

Colonists could "simply" combine the hydrogen with oxygen extracted from lunar rocks, which would enable settlers to quench their thirst (not to mention help create rocket fuel as well).

Martian North Pole: Water So Pure You Could (Almost) Drink It?

While it has been known that Mars's north pole contains an abundance of water, it looks as if some French scientists have discovered that water ice located up north may be much purer than we have originally thought.

(Physorg.com) Radar data sent back by the US Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) point to 95 percent purity in this deposit, France's National Institute of Sciences of the Universe (Insu) said in a press release.

The Martian polar regions are believed to hold the equivalent of two to three million cubic kilometres" (0.47-0.72 million cu. miles) of ice, it said.

Although its fairly obvious that the Martian water would still have to be heavily filtered, this high concentration of water ice does give the red planet some much needed real estate value.

If humanity is ever going to harvest the asteroid belt in the future, they are going to need an abundance of water for not only food and drink, but for fuel as well.

Mars: Locating Ice Water In All The Right Places (Technology)

(Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Russian Federal Space Agency)

When it comes to water, Mars probably holds more than any other terrestrial body (at least as far as safely retrieving goes).

While the red planet does hold an abundance of water beneath its surface (not to mention the north and south poles), locating the ice rich regions may determine how successful a future outpost will be on the crimson world.

Fortunately it looks as if scientists may have found a way to locate areas wealthy in ice water simply by "bouncing" neutrons off of the Martian soil.

(Astrobiology Magazine) Detecting water underground does not require a magical stick. Neutrons reflecting out of the soil can indicate the presence of water or ice. A novel instrument that can detect those neutrons is planned for NASA's next rover mission to Mars. [...]

"It is like striking a billiard ball with the cue ball," Boynton said. "If you hit it directly on center, all of the energy of the cue ball (the neutron in this case) will be transferred to the billiard ball (the hydrogen atom)."

The net result is that a neutron is stopped or slowed when colliding with hydrogen. Presumably, most of the hydrogen atoms on a planet surface will be part of a water molecule.

"Water will both thermalize (slow down) and absorb neutrons, so the reflected neutron signal will be higher in thermal (low-energy) neutrons and lower in epithermal (high-energy) neutrons," Boynton explained.

Dry soil, by contrast, will reflect more high-energy neutrons. This is because it will contain predominantly heavier atoms, which act like bowling balls that barely budge when a cue ball hits them. Neutrons striking iron or silicon atoms, rather than hydrogen atoms, will ricochet with practically the same energy that they started with.

Even though we can use satellites to locate ice water from space, their results are not as accurate (as according to the article their signal can only penetrate one meter below the surface).

If promising regions can be located, NASA (and others) could then send robotic landers to drill through the surface, which will make it easier for future colonists to simply collect and filter the Martian water once they arrive.

Water, Water Everywhere (But None On Luna To Drink)

After previously hoping to find ice water within the shadowy craters of Luna, it looks as if the Moon harbor less water than most terrestrial deserts.

(New Scientist Space) The Shackleton Crater on the south pole had been a prominent candidate for a future base station, since it contains a ledge on its rim that would have been an ideal landing spot. [...]

A team led by Junichi Haruyama of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in Kanagawa analysed images of the crater taken on these brighter days. The images were snapped by the spacecraft's Terrain Camera, which can resolve objects as small as 10 metres across. [...]

But according to Pieters, the most striking feature was what was missing. "If there had been nice, clean ice, we'd have seen brighter reflections from its surface – but none were visible," she told New Scientist. Instead, the images just revealed dull lunar soil.

Despite this setback, the Moon is still a valuable asset to the Earth/Space economy, as its helium-3 could help power our world (for thousands of years to come), while extracting oxygen from lunar rock may provide explorers with enough air and fuel to conquer the asteroid belt.

While Plaskett crater may hold more hope for us in the future, we should seriously consider the idea of exporting water (en mass) to future lunar colonies, or even importing it from water rich dwarf worlds such as Ceres.

Martian Desalination Factories: Providing Clean Water And Iron?

Whether or not Mars held oceans on its surface in the past, one thing is clear--there is a lot of water on the red planet. Despite most of it being frozen, future astronauts will probably have to filter the Martian water in order to be able to drink it safely.



Even though Mars has an abundance of water (not to mention soil that may be able to grow Asparagus), the planet lacks major known resources of any kind--especially in the "metal department."



While some may suggest future colonists scour the crimson world in search of resources (or import them from the asteroid belt), it may be better for future settlers to simply collect from the water they filtrate via desalination factories.

(Globes Online) A study by "Globes" found that that the Ashkelon desalination plant, produces 6,500 cubic meters of fresh water a day, and discharges iron into the Mediterranean as a byproduct. The 100-million cubit meter a year plant is owned by the VID consortium, VID is consortium of IDE Technologies Ltd. and Veolia Water SA. [...]



During the reverse osmosis desalination process, the facility removes iron from the seawater before it its pushed through the desalination membranes that produce fresh water. Ministry of Environmental Protection officials from the Coastal and Marine Division told "Globes" that they were unaware that the Ashkelon facility discharges this iron into the sea, in the form of "red water", and that they were taken by surprise when they learned about it.

Although Israel's desalination plants (or factories) will have to be improved in order to reduce (or hopefully eliminate) the iron being fed back into the oceans, these factories may have stumbled upon a unique way for future colonists to extract metals from Martian water.



Since Mars has plenty of rust within its soil, there is a good chance that a large percentage of that has mixed in with its water. While this is no guarantee that humanity would be able to turn "rust into iron," these desalination factories might be able to extract some iron from the crimson planet's "water supply."



(Image Credit: House Renovation Tips)

So, How Much Water Is On The Moon?

(Hat Tip: Tales of the Heliosphere and the Lunar News Network)

After observing rock samples retrieved from the lunar surface during the Apollo era, scientists have discovered traces of water "embedded" within the little Moon pebbles.

(Wired Science) In a study published today in Nature, researchers led by Brown University geologist Alberto Saal found evidence of water molecules in pebbles retrieved by NASA's Apollo missions.

The findings point to the existence of water deep beneath the moon's surface, transforming scientific understanding of our nearest neighbor's formation and, perhaps, our own. There may also be a more immediately practical application.

"Is there water there? That's important for lunar missions. People could get the water. They could use the hydrogen for energy," said Saal.

While the Moon is obviously dry today, many scientists think that if the Moon did hold large reservoirs of water, probably lost most of it in the past, leaving Earth's little sister parched and dry.

According to Wired, scientists were able to find water at the molecular level, although such news will probably not quench the thirst of any future colonist.


If the Moon does in fact hold large quantities of water, it is probably buried deep underground, or hidden from the Sun's rays within the shadows of polar craters.

The (Frozen) Red Planet

Despite the fact that Mars has an abundance of water upon its poles, many scientists were hoping that underground oceans existed beneath its surface.

Unfortunately it seems as if recent scans of the Martian north pole indicate that if Mars does contain underground oceans, they may a much deeper than what we previously expected.

(Space.com) An international team of scientists used the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to probe the north pole of the red planet with radar. The ice cap there goes about 1.2 miles deep (2 km) and is roughly the size of Pakistan at 310,000 square miles large (800,000 square km). [...]

Unexpectedly, the radar scans also revealed the massive weight of the ice cap does not deform any underlying sediment. This implies the crust beneath the cap is strong — more than 180 miles thick (300 km).

To have such a thick crust, "Mars might be colder than we thought," Phillips told SPACE.com. As a result, any liquid water that might be underground has to be buried even deeper than once speculated. "If one thought that liquid water was 5 kilometers deep (3 miles), it's now at least 30 percent deeper than that," he said.

While the planet's colder side may make it harder to terraform the crimson world, it may convince the first colonists to establish outposts near the north and south Martian poles (instead of searching for "liquid water wells").

Filtering Space Water (On The Cheap)

(Hat Tip: IsraGood, Image Credit: Europa.eu)

Whenever we hear about water being cited on Mars or any other planet-moon body, one often imagines future colonists drinking clear crystal fresh water as if it came straight from the tap.

Unfortunately the chances are that water mined from any foreign world will probably be contaminated with dust particles, making it fairly unhealthy to drink. Filtering this space water will become top priority if we are build cities upon other worlds, let alone conduct research on them.

Fortunately it looks as if one companies invention on Earth could enable us to drink water inexpensively off world.

(Israel 21^st Century) "Desalination is cheaper than melting ice," said Mino Negrin, managing director and founder of Nirosoft, which simulated the environment at the Davis Station in its R&D labs.

The company's self-contained desalination unit provides up to 100,000 liters a day of purified, desalinated water. Its Lego-like portability makes it easy to ship by air. "We can produce drinking water from almost any source - sea water, rivers and lakes, brackish groundwater, estuaries and lagoons," said Negrin, who hopes to visit the Antarctic Station sometime this year. [...]

Two of the main advantages of the system are that use of chemicals is minimal, and operating costs are low. No wonder Negrin was sought out by Chinese television. China, with a thirsty population of over 1.3 billion, is facing a water crisis. The rollicking economy is a mixed blessing. Water pollution is rampant. Demand keeps rising as cities, agriculture, and industry compete for diminishing supplies. "We are already selling our products in China," said Negrin, who sees a big market for Nirosoft in China. "Our products are needed to help solve China's severe water problems."

While any ice found would obviously have to be melted, this filtration system could help keep costs down for future solar residents.

If Nirosoft's technology can help provide clean drinking water to a nation of over a billion people, how much more could it benefit a future space colony populating in the hundreds?

Ice Miners: The Most Profitable Job In The Solar System?

If you could travel to the future and live during the interplanetary space age, what occupation would you choose? Would you risk your life in asteroid mining, or would you consider making your fortune selling pigs?

Could you imagine yourself designing rockets, or would being a space pirate suit your fancy?

While choosing prestigious job may be more fulfilling, if you wanted to make "your zillions," you may want to place your investments (and skills) towards mining space water.

Our solar system is fortunate enough to be blessed by this precious liquid throughout its "borders." Water, in the form of ice, can be found from the polar ice caps of Mars to unvisited surface of Pluto's moon, Charon.

Having water available in virtually every planetary (and dwarf planetary) system (Mercury and Venus excluded) means that humanity will have a much easier time settling the solar system without the need of hauling millions of tons of water with them.

Yet despite the fact that water is abundant throughout our star system, most of this water would probably not be too healthy in a glass, at least for most animals, plants and humans.

Unlike most of the fresh streams that inhabit our globe, space water is often contaminated either by minerals, rocks or even salt. Simply melting these dirty ice cubes down will not guarantee that this water would be safe to drink, at least for complex organisms.

In order to make this water useful for future life, humanity will have to figure out an inexpensive way to filter out the contaminants. Any company (or person) who could find a way to meet this need would probably end up making a fortune selling this to the masses.

Another use of solar water would be that of fuel. Even though it is evident that this vital molecule is composed of two Hydrogen molecules and one Oxygen, it may not be very evident to the general population that hydrogen and oxygen are the basic components for rocket fuel.

While using chemical rockets may not be as appealing towards those living upon deep gravity wells (such as Earth, Mercury and Mars), other colonists living upon the Moon, Ganymede or Callisto may find them to be a cheaper alternative as compared to nuclear rockets.

As humanity begins to expand throughout our solar system, one will probably begin to see off world space hotels begin to take off. While the first hotels on the Moon (and in orbit) may be small and cramped, future hotels on worlds like Mars, Ceres, etc. will probably be wise to imitate Earth's native climate.

This will ultimately include having not only drinkable water in abundance, but also pools, hot showers and (if they are large enough) mini sized lakes for people to row across. Until terraforming is perfected, such attractions at hotels will potentially draw large groups, who will (ironically) probably be able to afford a trip back to the home planet.

Any ice miner (or company) able to meet the growing demand of water for this industry will probably find themselves with little financial worries in life.

While investing in computer software or asteroid mining industries could also help a future colonists achieve financial success, placing ones money within an ice miner (or ice mining corporation) could enable a fortunate individual to retire young and perhaps invest their money into moving humanity towards conquering the next star system.

Note: Due to lack of time, images will be inserted later on.

Update: Images added.

Russia, NASA Team Up In Quest For Space Water

The head of both Russia and America's space agencies signed an agreement to cooperate as they search both the Moon an Mars in the quest for "liquid gold."

(USA Today) The agreements signed by NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and Russian Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov deal with putting Russian instruments on board NASA probes that would be sent to the moon and Mars.

"These two projects demonstrate the commitment by our countries to continue to look for opportunities where it's mutually beneficial to cooperate," Griffin said. "When these opportunities happen it's our intent to work together to bring them to fruition."

This partnership should help out both NASA and Russia, as it will lessen the cost of finding the best locations for a moon base, as any habitation near water is considered prime real estate.

This could also help relieve some of the space war rhetoric, as the last thing humanity needs is a cold war in space.

Martian South Pole Abundant In Water Ice

(Hat Tip: Universe Today)

(Image: Martian South Pole, Credit: NASA / MOLA Science Team, via MIT)

When it comes to life giving water, Earth reigns supreme. But outside our home world, it seems as if Earth's red neighbor Mars may also have an abundance of water frozen at its southern pole.

(MIT News Office) The experiment reveals that the southern Martian polar region is the largest body of frozen water on the planet and the largest, outside of Earth, in the inner solar system, which includes Mars, Earth, Venus and Mercury.

Until now, scientists were puzzled by the observation that a large percentage of the southern polar region surface does not reflect much light, as it would if there were ice on the surface. This study shows that much of the ice is covered in a layer of dust, but it remains unknown why the dust only covers certain areas, Zuber said.

Maria Zuber's team also discovered that the southern polar cap contains "about 15 percent silicate dust" that is mixed within the ice. In order to survive on Mars, future colonists will have to develop powerful water filters in order to drink melted Martian water.

Note: perhaps Israel could help us out with this.

Update: Adjusted image position, moved credits below image.

Video: Phoenix To See If Martian Soil Is Fertile

(Video: NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander will visit the north polar region of Mars in search of "habitable soil." Credit: NASA)

Of all the rovers that have or will grace the surface of Mars, Phoenix may prove to be the most important.

While the purpose of the other three rovers is to satisfy geologists by observing Martian rocks, the Phoenix rover's main duty is to find out whether Martian soil is fertile for life--and perhaps agriculture itself.

(NASA) "Our 'follow the water' strategy for exploring Mars has yielded a string of dramatic discoveries in recent years about the history of water on a planet where similarities with Earth were much greater in the past than they are today," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington. "Phoenix will complement our strategic exploration of Mars by being our first attempt to actually touch and analyze Martian water -- water in the form of buried ice." [...]

"In addition, our instruments can assess whether this polar environment is a habitable zone for primitive microbes. To complete the scientific characterization of the site, Phoenix will monitor polar weather and the interaction of the atmosphere with the surface."

While the overall purpose of Phoenix is to see if any life can survive in the barren soil, the space craft could ultimately inform us whether or not Martian soil is toxic towards life.

If proven to be safe for humans as well as plants, NASA could begin to draw out plans of harvesting crop on the red planet for future generations. Although humans may have to (create their own fertilizer (as importing it would be very expensive), growing our own food on the crimson planet could enable us to establish Mars as a second home for humanity.

Is Terraforming Mars A Bad Idea?

(Image Credit: Popular Science, Aviation Space)

Of all the worlds ever graced by science fiction, Mars is second to only Earth in honorable mentions. Previously imagined in the past to harbor advanced civilizations, many space enthusiasts today now seek to not only visit Mars, but to transform this rusty world into a second Earth.

Although having a second home world (if not more) in our solar system is probably a wise idea, terraforming Mars into a miniature Earth could present new challenges making it very difficult into calling the red planet home.

Despite their similarities, Martian weather seems to be much more violent than its larger terrestrial brother Earth. Having less than 1% of the air pressure of Earth, Martian gusts seem to be able to generate wind speeds of up to 375 miles per hour.

Although Earth is no stranger when it comes to fierce storms, our planet has yet to encounter one on a global scale, an experience Mars seems to be very familiar with. If our species were ever to raise the air pressure to Earth levels, future colonists may end up finding themselves trapped on a world whose weather would put category five hurricanes to shame.

If raising the air pressure on Mars was not bad, raising the temperatures may be worse. Lacking major oceans, future colonists would be able to establish outposts throughout the red planet's surface, which area wise is roughly equal (in size) to all of the dry land on planet Earth.

With a large portion of water potentially lying beneath half of the Martian soil, (hat tip: Posthuman blues) as well as the polar ice caps, raising current temperatures on our future home world could end up flooding the planet. Although Martian oceans would definitely compliment this barren world (at least from space), they may provide little "land room" for colonists desiring to set up shop on Earth's distant neighbor.

Last but not least, a terraformed Mars may not be as "wildlife friendly" as planet Earth, enabling only humans and certain pets to dwell upon the surface. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a global magnetic field which many animals such as birds, bats and certain insects depend upon for migration and navigation.

Although humans could easily navigate via an artificial GPS system, our animal friends may not be as fortunate. Unless an artificial magnetic field could be constructed, humanity will be unable to create the large ecosystems necessary to recreate the red desert into a thriving oasis.

Despite being a far cry from Earth like conditions, Mars may prove to be more livable in its current state than as a terraformed world. Humanities understanding of weather (especially global warming) is still in its infancy, and if we are not careful, our attempts at turning a world into an oasis may end up turning the world against ourselves.

Melting Martian Ice Caps Could Flood The Planet

With all the talk about terraforming Mars in the next Millennium, very few have mentioned what would happen to the Martian polar regions if the temperature increased.

Recently scientists have discovered that the southern polar region of Mars, composed mostly of carbon and water ice has enough water frozen underneath to flood the entire planet.

(Mars Today) New measurements of Mars' south polar region indicate extensive frozen water. The polar region contains enough frozen water to cover the whole planet in a liquid layer approximately 36 feet deep. A joint NASA-Italian Space Agency instrument on the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft provided these data.

This new estimate comes from mapping the thickness of the ice. The Mars Express orbiter's radar instrument has made more than 300 virtual slices through layered deposits covering the pole to map the ice. The radar sees through icy layers to the lower boundary, which is as deep as 2.3 miles below the surface.

"The south polar layered deposits of Mars cover an area bigger than Texas. The amount of water they contain has been estimated before, but never with the level of confidence this radar makes possible," said Jeffrey Plaut of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena Calif.

Some scientists have even discovered what appears to be a "bright spot" underneath the ice which may be an indicator of water beneath the surface despite the freezing temperatures.

Mars it seems has more than its fair share of water frozen underneath, which may end up being its "golden resource" that future colonists can exchange for goods on other worlds (and asteroids). If humanity ever begins to colonize this world, they may need to watch how fast they raise the temperature on this planet as the last thing we need is another flooded world causing havoc for our species.

More Evidence Of Martian Underground Water

Martian scientists are getting excited with more evidence showing that Mars may have liquid water flowing underneath its surface.

(New Scientist Space) Water may have once flowed several kilometres beneath the surface of Mars in underground piping, according to new images of pipe-like fractures in bedrock taken by the most powerful camera in orbit around Mars. [...]

"These deeper underground areas may have been an oasis for any sort of biologic activity that may have been occurring," says Chris Okubo, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona in Tucson, US.

Some scientists think that Mars may hold oceans beneath its surface. If so, locating these underground reservoirs will definitely be key towards conquering the red planet as water can provide not only life, but fuel (via hydrogen) as well.

Searching For Martian Life In All The Right Places

Despite the fact that the red planet's soil may be toxic towards life, scientists intend upon sending a robot towards the northern pole of Mars.

(MSNBC) Scientists are scrambling to find an alternative landing site for a long-armed robot set to launch this summer on a mission to dig into Mars' icy north pole to search for signs of primitive life. [...]

Scientists scouring images of the Martian arctic have narrowed options down to three possible candidates for where the spacecraft can safely touch down. They have until March to choose a destination.

The three sites are clustered around the north pole, which is believed to have a huge amount of ice just below the surface. A site dubbed Green Valley is located within a shallow valley and looks the most secure, Smith said.

It is doubtful that this robot will discover anything within a few yards beneath the surface as the soil has taken a serious beating from cosmic radiation (enough to kill life as we know it).

However this robot's little adventure in the north should provide a useful map of icy ponds, which will be quite useful when pondering where to set up shop on this distant world.

Are Martian Oceans Underneath Its Soil?

With evidence of liquid water beneath Martian soil recently appearing, some scientists speculate that the red planet may have a wet, frozen secret buried beneath its crimson sands.

(New Scientist Space) Mars is losing little water to space, according to new research, so much of its ancient abundance may still be hidden beneath the surface.

Dried up riverbeds and other evidence imply that Mars once had enough water to fill a global ocean more than 600 metres deep, together with a thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide that kept the planet warm enough for the water to be liquid. But the planet is now very dry and has a thin atmosphere.

It had been previously assumed that Mars had lost its atmosphere and water due to solar activity from the Sun. However, new evidence suggests that this theory may be just that--a theory.

Observations by the European Space Agency's Mars Express hint that Mars is not losing enough atmosphere and water to justify the previous theory, leaving not only more questions about how Mars lost its original atmosphere but hope that oceans may lie beneath a world some see as a second Earth.

More Evidence Of Martian Water Arises

(Hat Tip: Mars News)

NASA has released news of water existing on the red planet, perhaps in liquid form underground. If so, future colonists may be able to tap into the "water line," although doing so may cause a flash flood.

(NASA) MALIN: We think that the water is coming from deep in the ground. It's warmed as it gets closer to the center of Mars. The outer parts of Mars are really, really quite cold, but the inner part is probably still warm, just as the Earth's interior is warm. As the water came up, it reached the surface and initially froze at the surface. But as more and more water came up, it would build pressure behind the frozen water in front of it and eventually it would break out of behind that barrier and flow down the surface. So we think there's an ice dam that is holding back water for some period of time, and then that dam breaks, and water comes out, and as it comes out, and as the dam breaks, it consists of rock debris from the rock around that water, it includes ice fragments from the dam and it includes liquid water.

How thick that "ice dam" is would be something future Martians would have to find out. Of course any water found on Mars would have to be filtered out for contamination (as Martian soil can be toxic and that may include some of the sub layers as well).

Drilling For Water On Mars

Before we can actually establish a colony on the red planet, we first need to locate adequate supplies of water. If scientists are able to locate where possible sources of water lie on Mars (via new technology, rovers or telescopes) then it will be much easier to set up a colony on that dusty world.

But before humans are sent towards Mars, robots will have to do the dirty work first. And it looks like scientists are building one smart enough to handle the job.

(Red Orbit) NASA scientists plan to drill someday into the surface of Mars to look for water and signs of possible life. So, scientists are developing an automated, unmanned drill rig that can operate totally on its own, unsupervised for hours at a time. [...]

An eight-person team, made up of scientists and engineers from NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., will set up drilling equipment that is a little taller than a human being, and sits in a footprint of about one square yard (one square meter).

Earth-based experiments will help scientists learn if synthetic brainpower is able to control a rig on Mars for many hours of drilling without human intervention. Future Mars missions with drills will likely have the ability to communicate with Earth only once or twice a day.

Since people will be unable to directly observe what is happening on Mars, scientists were forced to create an AI (or artificial intelligence) for the bot. Using lasers, vibration sensors and logic, this machine will be able to tell when to stop drilling, adjust and (hopefully) locate any problems that come along the way.

Called the Drilling Automation for Mars Exploration project (or DAME for short), this piece of technology will become very useful once we begin the first stages of colonizing Mars.