Melt away all of the ice locked within the frozen ice cap of Mars’ south pole, and the entire planet would be awash in water 11 meters deep. The calculation comes from precise new maps of the planet’s south pole obtained using a radar instrument aboard the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft.

Previous measurements by other spacecraft, such as NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor, have estimated the volume of Mars’ polar ice caps, but “never with the level of confidence this radar makes possible,” said Jeffrey Plaut of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., in an ESA news release.

By measuring the amount of time that elapsed between radar signals reflected from the ice surface and from the planet surface, researchers could determine the ice’s thickness across the cap. Publishing March 16 in Science, Plaut and colleagues report that the thickest regions of the cap measure 3.7 kilometers deep.

geotimes

Images taken by NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft suggest the presence of liquid water on the Martian surface, a tantalizing find for scientists wondering if the Red Planet ever has harbored life.

The orbiting U.S. spacecraft allowed scientists to detect changes in the walls of two Martian craters that may have been caused by the recent flow of water, a team of researchers said in a paper appearing on Wednesday in the journal Science.

reuters

NASA plans to permanently occupy an outpost at one of the Moon’s poles, officials announced on Monday.

The first four astronauts will land for a short visit in 2020, but it will take until at least 2024 to prepare for “a fully functional presence with rotating crews”, said Scott Horowitz, associate administrator for the exploration systems mission directorate.

It has taken NASA nearly three years to get to this point in their planning, following President George W Bush’s announcement of his “vision” for exploring the Moon and Mars).

In April 2006, representatives of NASA and 13 other space agencies met to plan themes and objectives for an exploration strategy – essentially why to return to the Moon and what to do there. (NASA videos relating to the six themes decided upon are available.)

The planned base on the Moon is now a key part of the strategy. But NASA will not be going it alone. “It is critical we have international participation and commercial participation,” says NASA deputy administrator Shana Dale, although no agreements are yet in place.

“The US will build the transportation infrastructure,” said Dale. NASA will also provide initial capabilities for communications, navigation, and operation around the base. But the US is seeking help from other countries and private corporations in other areas, including the lunar habitation modules, power, logistics and robotics.

NewScientist