Water ice today
Researchers with the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding instrument on board the orbiter also presented their observations of the northern polar ice cap and evidence of subsurface ice, which is published today in the online version of the journal Science.
From the reflection and absorption intensities of the 1.8-kilometer-thick ice cap, they have determined that it is nearly pure water.
"The dust component must be very small – two percent or less based on absorption," said MARSIS co-principal investigator Jeffrey Plaut.
Researchers with the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding instrument on board the orbiter also presented their observations of the northern polar ice cap and evidence of subsurface ice, which is published today in the online version of the journal Science.
From the reflection and absorption intensities of the 1.8-kilometer-thick ice cap, they have determined that it is nearly pure water.
"The dust component must be very small – two percent or less based on absorption," said MARSIS co-principal investigator Jeffrey Plaut.
Even if not at the poles it looks like there's a lot of subsurface ice elsewhere....
Dr. Mordrid
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