Lecture: Martian Water: A brief History

Mars is a barren desert world, so one might puzzle over the idea there being water. However, since 1877 there has been great speculation of water on Mars and ultimately what that implies.

In this talk we look at the history of hunting for water on Mars and the role water has played in Martian evolution, from the distant past until present day encountering underground ice, lakes and an huge ancient ocean.

Ramin Lolachi a recent member of SAS and is a PhD student at the University of Oxford. He works with data from the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) instrument onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. His research focuses on the temporal and spatial distribution of water vapour in the present-day Martian atmosphere.