As Byeol-maru flew low over Mars, Hyeongseop spotted winding, narrow valleys carved into the red ground below, patterns that looked like dried-up riverbeds stretching all the way to the horizon.
“Byeoli, look at those grooves in the ground. They look exactly like marks left behind by flowing water.”
“Good eye, Hyeongseop. Scientists thought the exact same thing when they saw these patterns. They believe that a very, very long time ago, water really did flow across Mars.”
“There was actually water here? But it’s such a dry, red desert now.”
“Yes. When Mars rovers dug into the ground, they found pebbles and minerals that could only have formed in the presence of water. Long ago, Mars may have had lakes, rivers, maybe even a large ocean.”
Hyeongseop pressed close to the window, gazing down at the dry valley. It was hard to imagine that water once rippled across this land, now nothing but drifting dust.
“So where did all that water go?”
“Mars is smaller and lighter than Earth, so its gravity is weaker. On top of that, the magnetic shield we talked about recently has mostly disappeared here too. Over a very long time, the solar wind slowly stripped away its atmosphere, and the water either drifted off into space or froze deep underground.”
“Oh, that’s the same green shield that protects Earth. Mars lost it and ended up like this.”
“Exactly. Mars probably had a magnetic shield like Earth’s a very long time ago too. But its core cooled down faster than Earth’s, and as it cooled, the shield weakened until it nearly vanished. Without that shield, the solar wind hit directly, and both water and air slowly leaked away into space.”
“So is there really no water left on Mars at all?”
“Not completely gone. Rovers have confirmed that water still exists underground and as ice near the polar regions. That’s why scientists keep exploring Mars. If water was once here, it might mean tiny forms of life could have existed here too, a very long time ago.”
“Wow, maybe someday we’ll find proof of that.”
“Maybe so. Right now, rovers are still digging a little deeper into the ground, searching for that very answer. By the time you’re grown up, we might finally know.”
Hyeongseop imagined the ice hiding somewhere beneath the red desert, picturing the day its buried secret might finally be uncovered. This dry, quiet red planet, he thought, must have once had water trickling gently through every one of these valleys, and now it felt like Mars was an old story, sleeping quietly, waiting to be told. As Byeol-maru drifted slowly along the valley, Hyeongseop pressed his hand gently to the window and whispered a quiet hello to the red ground below. Someday, tell me the whole story you’ve been keeping, he thought.
“Mars once had rivers and lakes, but weakened gravity and a lost magnetic field slowly let its water and air escape into space.”
Your Turn Now
Share with someone today what you remember.
- What do the winding grooves on Mars mark?
- Where did Mars’s water go?
- Is there any water left on Mars today?
(Check when ready: 1. Traces of ancient flowing rivers. 2. It escaped into space due to weak gravity and a lost magnetic field. 3. Yes, some remains underground and as ice near the poles.)
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