Mars' Ancient Ocean

  • Released Thursday, March 5, 2015
View full credits

NASA planetary scientists Geronimo Villanueva and Michael Mumma discuss their findings regarding the ancient ocean of Mars.

Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.

For complete transcript, click here.

For decades, planetary scientists have suspected that ancient Mars was a much warmer, wetter environment than it is today, but estimates of just how much water Mars has lost since its formation vary widely. Now, new isotopic measurements by researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center reveal that an ocean once covered approximately twenty percent of the Martian surface. This new picture of early Mars is considerably wetter than many previous estimates, raising the odds for the ancient habitability of the Red Planet.

Mars Ancient Ocean, short version

Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.

For complete transcript, click here.

El Océano Antiguo de Marte, vídeo en Español

Ver este vídeo en el canal NASAexplorer YouTube.

Para una transcripción completa, presione aquí.

Animation - Mars present-day to 4.5 billion years ago

Animation - The ancient ocean of Mars retreats toward the polar ice caps, which are the main reservoirs of water on the planet today.

Animation - Hydrogen atoms escape from the Mars upper atmosphere, while water containing heavy hydrogen (deuterium) remains trapped on the planet. The escape of hydrogen helped to turn Mars from a wet planet 4.5 billion years ago into a dry world today.

Video Resource Reel - contains interviews with NASA scientists Geronimo Villanueva (pictured) and Michael Mumma

Image - a print-resolution still

Image - a print-resolution still

Image - a print-resolution still on a transparent background

Image - a print-resolution still on a transparent background

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Thursday, March 5, 2015.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:49 PM EDT.

Series

This visualization can be found in the following series:

Tapes

This visualization originally appeared on the following tapes: