The Supermassive Podcast A Watery History of Mars
Nov 1, 2025
Join Robert Massey, Deputy Director of the Royal Astronomical Society, Joe McNeil, a Martian geologist, and Sian Prosser, an archivist, as they dive into Mars' fascinating watery history. Discover when Mars last had liquid water and the evidence for its rivers and lakes. Joe reveals the geological features shaped by water, while Sian shares intriguing historical maps and the myth of Martian canals. The trio also discusses water's significance for potential human missions and its implications for life, past and present, on the Red Planet.
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Where Mars Keeps Its Water Today
- Present-day Martian water exists mainly as polar ice caps and mid-latitude subsurface permafrost detectable by radar.
- Polar caps contain layered CO2 and kilometers-thick permanent water ice cores.
Focus Missions On Subsurface Ice
- Target subsurface sites to search for past or present life because they better preserve biosignatures away from harsh surface conditions.
- For human missions, prioritise sites with shallow subsurface ice for drinking water, oxygen, and local rocket fuel production.
Mars Experienced Extensive Glaciation
- Mars has both ancient and current glacial activity; present glaciers are ice‑rock mixtures (~80% ice) mainly at poles.
- Past higher axial tilt caused widespread glaciation carving features even near the equator.
