Have Astronomers Found Water on Mars?

The new study relied upon seismic data from the InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) spacecraft that landed on Mars in 2018. Over a four-year period, the seismometer on InSight recorded more than a thousand Martian quakes. A reanalysis of the data indicated that there may be substantial water inside the rocks 6–12 miles below where InSight landed. If the amount of inferred water is consistent across the Martian surface, then there could be enough water for a large ocean on Mars’ surface. Scientists long ago agreed that Mars once was covered by an ocean. This would have required warmer temperatures on Mars, as well as a much more extensive atmosphere than today. Because of Mars’ low gravity, the atmosphere probably escaped into space, along with much of the ocean. But this new study suggests that much of that ocean may have disappeared deep below the Martian surface.

Before going any further, keep in mind that both studies relied upon indirect evidence of subsurface water on Mars. The data easily could be interpreted differently. Indeed, the seismic data had been interpreted differently for several years. The conclusion of substantial subsurface water will remain controversial. H₂O is one of the most common elements in the universe, and astronomers have detected it in many places. However, H₂O directly detected throughout the universe always has been in the solid or gaseous state. Direct detection of water (liquid H₂O) is unique to the earth.

Among the more than 5,000 known exoplanets, there are none that are clearly earthlike.

This distinction is very important. Everyone understands that water is essential for life. Hence, if life is to exist anywhere else in the universe, water must be present. This is why the search for water is so important to evolutionary scientists—they believe that the existence of water elsewhere would confirm their belief in evolution. The purpose of searching for exoplanets (planets orbiting other stars) is to find earthlike planets, the only kind of planets that could support life. Earthlike planets are defined as those that have the proper composition, gravity, and distance from the stars they orbit to have conditions where water might exist on their surfaces. Among the more than 5,000 known exoplanets, there are none that are clearly earthlike.

It is obvious that water cannot exist on the surface of any other body in the solar system, but scientists have identified indirect evidence for water beneath the surfaces of some of the natural satellites, or moons, of the giant planets. Now it is Mars’ turn. Each time subsurface water is claimed for an object in the solar system, speculation about whether life exists there follows. But Mars is a special case. Scientists are more interested if the water under the surface of Mars may be a remnant of the ocean that was on its surface in Mars’ early history. They believe that the conditions for life on Mars were much better in the ancient past, so this discovery will fuel discussion of whether life evolved on Mars but became extinct as the Martian climate became more hostile to life or if life might have followed the ocean into Mars’ interior and still exists there.

The agenda behind the new study is to promote the natural origin of life. But good science argues against the chance development of life from nonliving things. If several centuries of biology as we know it has established anything, it is that only living things give rise to living things. This conclusion matches what the Bible says—God created living things on earth on days three, five, and six of the creation week. Even if water exists elsewhere in the universe, good science argues against the possibility of life there, unless God created it there too. If life exists, then we can be certain that God created it. Hence the question of whether life exists elsewhere is a theological question, not a scientific one. While the Bible does not directly address the question of extraterrestrial life, at Answers in Genesis we believe the Bible indicates that life is unique to earth.