00:00Astronomers have been on the hunt for liquid water on Mars for years, only finding it in
00:08the form of ice.
00:09However, experts now say that while they haven't discovered massive sources of liquid H2O on
00:14the surface, below the Martian crust there might be oceans of the stuff.
00:18When a planet loses as much of its atmosphere as Mars has, water more easily evaporates
00:22out into space.
00:23However, if Martian surface water seeped down into the planet instead, it could very well
00:28still be down there.
00:29This theory is the result of new seismic data captured by NASA's InSight lander, data
00:34which points to huge deposits of liquid deep down below the surface.
00:38InSight is able to figure out what materials are under the surface by tracking Martian
00:41seismic activity, as seismic waves moving through different materials produce different
00:46data, finding that around 7.1 to 12.4 miles under the surface of Mars, between fractured
00:51rock lies layers of liquid water.
00:54The researchers say that understanding the Martian water cycle is critical for understanding
00:58the evolution of the climate, surface, and interior.
01:01However, they add that finding liquid water deep under the surface of Mars might also
01:05lead them to something else we've been searching for out in the cosmos, extraterrestrial life.
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