{"id":285635,"date":"2025-11-27T06:04:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T06:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/285635\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T06:04:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T06:04:12","slug":"nasa-investigates-martian-underground-lake-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/285635\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA investigates Martian underground lake theory"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"An<\/a>An image of Mars’ south polar ice cap (Image source: ESA, DLR, and FU Berlin; edited)<\/p>\n

Since 2018, scientists have thought that what was below the ice cap at Mars\u2019 south pole was an underground lake. But new research using NASA\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has proven that the underground lake theory is highly unlikely.<\/p>\n

In 2015, ESA\u2019s Mars Express Orbiter captured an image of Mars\u2019 south polar ice cap. Three years later, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) instrument on the spacecraft detected a bright signal from the area. The nature of the signal made scientists suspect that there was an underground lake beneath the ice. <\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s MRO revisited the area. After years of trying to peer into such depth, scientists finally hacked it with the very large roll technique. The technique involves a special maneuver that rolls the spacecraft 120 degrees. This made it possible for the Shallow Radar (SHARAD) instrument on MRO to detect signals from below the ice. <\/p>\n

Interestingly, SHARAD picked up a faint signal. The faintness of the signal indicates that it is unlikely that liquid water is present under the ice cap. The scientists carrying out this research suggested that what was thought to be an underground lake is more likely to be a layer of rock and dust. They hypothesized that the bright signal MARSIS detected in 2018 could have been from unusually smooth rock beneath the ice. <\/p>\n

The scientists intend to use the very large roll technique to view other areas beneath the Martian surface \u2014 for example, the Medusae Fossae. Such studies could be crucial in finding areas with nearby water, which would be ideal for astronauts to work and live. This paper was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters on November 17. <\/p>\n

Buy the 10-piece Solar System Planet Stress Balls for $12.99 on Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Chibuike<\/a>Chibuike Okpara<\/a> – Tech Writer – 296 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2024<\/p>\n

I have always been fascinated by technology and digital devices my entire life and even got addicted to it. I have always marveled at the intricacy of even the simplest digital devices and systems around us. I have been writing and publishing articles online for about 6 years now, just about a year ago, I found myself lost in the marvel of smartphones and laptops we have in our hands every day. I developed a passion for learning about new devices and technologies that come with them and at some point, I asked myself, “Why not get into writing tech articles?” It is useless to say I followed up the idea \u2014 it is evident. I am an open-minded individual who derives an infinite amount of joy from researching and discovering new information, I believe there is so much to learn and such a short life to live, so I put my time to good use \u2014 learning new things. I am a ‘bookworm’ of the internet and digital devices. When I am not writing, you will find me on my devices still, I do explore and admire the beauty of nature and creatures. I am a fast learner and quickly adapt to changes, always looking forward to new adventures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An image of Mars’ south polar ice cap (Image source: ESA, DLR, and FU Berlin; edited) Since 2018,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[268,269,262,116273,92,267,261,270,266,263,129,90,416,265,264,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-285635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-benchmarks","9":"tag-graphics-card","10":"tag-laptop","11":"tag-martian-underground-lake","12":"tag-nasa","13":"tag-netbook","14":"tag-notebook","15":"tag-processor","16":"tag-reports","17":"tag-review","18":"tag-reviews","19":"tag-science","20":"tag-space","21":"tag-test","22":"tag-tests","23":"tag-uk","24":"tag-united-kingdom","25":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}