Mars water surprise in Curiosity rover soil samples

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

26 September 2013 Last updated at 18:36 GMT

Mars water surprise in Curiosity rover soil samples

By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News

There is a surprising amount of water bound up in the soil of Mars, according to an analysis done onboard the US space agency's (Nasa) Curiosity rover.

When it heated a small pinch of dirt scooped up from the ground, the most abundant vapour detected was H2O.

Curiosity researcher Laurie Leshin and colleagues tell Science Magazine that Mars' dusty red covering holds about 2% by weight of water.

This could be a useful resource for future astronauts, they say.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24287207

[darkangel218]

1. Go Curiosity!!

[knitter4democracy]

2. Don't. Just don't.

Didn't anyone at NASA see the Doctor Who Waters of Mars episode?!

[bananas]

3. They're still just scratching the surface, the topsoil, only the top 2.5".

Dig deeper and there will be a lot more water.

"If you think about a cubic foot of this dirt and you just heat it a little bit - a few hundred degrees - you'll actually get off about two pints of water - like two water bottles you'd take to the gym," Dr Leshin explained.

"And this dirt on Mars is interesting because it seems to be about the same everywhere you go. If you are a human explorer, this is really good news because you can quite easily extract water from almost anywhere."