Mars Water Mystery: Escaped to Space, Hidden Deep Underground
TL;DR
Mars was once wet, with rivers and possibly an ocean, but two fates explain its drying: much water vapour escaped to space after the magnetic shield faded, while a newer view suggests a deep, crustal reservoir could still hold vast amounts of water — possibly enough to flood the planet if released. MAVEN confirms ongoing atmospheric loss, but the deep-water interpretation remains debated and not yet proven; Perseverance’s Jezero samples could test past habitability, and future seismic or drilling missions would be needed to confirm buried stores.
- Mars was once covered in rivers and lakes, and the mystery of where all that water went now has two answers: some was stripped away into space, and a great deal of it may still be there, locked deep in the planet's crust spacedaily.com
- Laying odds on the potential for Martian water near future landing zones Phys.org
- Current Water Trapping Micro-habitats On The Surface Of Mars Astrobiology Web
- What Australian Lakes Showed Us About Martian Hydrology eos.org
- Hematite Hidden for Decades in Spirit’s Archive Rewrites Mars Water History Tech Times
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