Inda's Mars mission (Photo : Reuters)
The Planet Mars has been the most sought planets by the human race and its characteristics have left researchers astounded. It is said that planet Mars once had an ocean bigger than the arctic.
Today, however, raises the question of how much is left on that body of water? According to CNet, the vast scope of the ocean, which is known to have been on the planet mars some 4 billion years ago, is estimated to be at least 20 million cubic kilometers compared to the Arctic Ocean that only has 18 million cubic kilometers.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Leader Geronimo Villanueva said, "Our study provides a solid estimate of how much water Mars once had. By determining how much water was lost in space. With this work, we can better understand the history of water on Mars." Using A Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the world's most advanced visible light astronomical observatory, the team studied the only two kinds of water that existed on the Red Planet, H2O which is the same as the water that exists on the planet earth and HDO also known as "heavy water" that contains deuterium.
CBSNews report says that, Mars once had a mile deep ocean that covers almost half of its northern hemisphere. This amount, says scientists, would have covered the entire surface of the earth with about 450 feet deep on its layer.
NASA's Michael Mumma said that the red planet was likely wet for a long period of time and that their study was centered on the north and south poles as it possesses the regions where most of the body of water were stored.
