Clues to Mars’ Lost Water

Image of a sloping hillside from the Mars Curiosity rover and an illustration of deuterated water molecules, called HDO instead of H2O because one of its hydrogen atoms has an extra neutrally charged particle. Infrared observations can study these particles that retrace the history of liquid water because the heavier molecules are more likely to remain even after liquid water has evaporated. SOFIA’s observations reveal this tracer of liquid water does not vary between Martian seasons, bringing scientists closer to understanding just how much liquid water Mars once had.

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