A large crater on Mars has been photographed by the The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft, which is home to a large patch of frozen water. The unnamed crater which holds this ice patch is located on Vastitas Borealis, a broad plain that covers much of the far northern latitudes.
This 22-24 mile long crater that holds a depth of 1.2 miles holds the frozen water all year long, for the temperatures are not high enough to allow the ice to melt, and return to the atmosphere. Scientists are quite sure this frozen patch is not CO2, because the photo was taken in the Martian summer, which would have guaranteed all the CO2 ice to evaporate.
This discovery of frozen water on Mars renews the hope of life on the Red Planet. Many gullies and streams in that area suggest frozen ice still exists on Mars, and frozen water can possibly hold the key to living organisms.
