Exciting news from Mars. Sub-surface lakes have been found beneath the south pole of Mars. And by an orbiter which has been orbiting Mars collecting data for years. According to a BBC
news item:
"What they believe to be a lake sits under the planet's south polar ice cap, and is about 20km (12 miles) across.
Lake beds like those explored by Nasa's Curiosity rover show water was present on the surface of Mars in the past.
However, the planet's climate has since cooled due to its thin atmosphere, leaving most of its water locked up in ice.
The result is exciting because scientists have long searched for signs of present-day liquid water on Mars, but these have come up empty or yielded ambiguous findings. It will also interest those studying the possibilities for life beyond Earth - though it does not yet raise the stakes in the search for biology."
