Water on Mars: study compares extraction methods

A University of Strathclyde study led by Dr Vassilis Inglezakis compares technologies for recovering Martian water and reports subsurface ice as the most promising long-term source, while soil heating and atmospheric harvesting have higher energy or time costs.

Scientists have documented water on Mars in several forms: subsurface ice, moisture bound in regolith, and vapour in the thin atmosphere. The remaining challenge for future human missions is not locating water but finding ways to extract and use it reliably. Dr Vassilis Inglezakis at the University of Strathclyde led a study that compares technologies for recovering Martian water under realistic conditions. The analysis examines how each method performs against energy, equipment, scalability and reliability constraints. What the study reports: - Subsurface ice is identified as the most promising long-term water source because it can offer substantial quantities of relatively pure water once drilling or excavation reaches deposits typically buried beneath meters of dry soil and rock, and the energy cost to melt ice is comparatively low for the yield. - Soil moisture consists of water molecules chemically bound to minerals; it can be liberated by heating but requires significant energy to produce relatively modest amounts, making it more suitable as a supplementary or emergency source. - Atmospheric water harvesting targets vapour in Mars’s thin air; concentrations are very low, so systems would need to operate continuously and collect over extended periods to produce useful volumes, which may suit missions far from ice deposits. - The study evaluates each method across multiple criteria, including energy requirements, equipment complexity, scalability from small missions to larger settlements, and reliability under variable Martian conditions. - Environmental factors such as temperature extremes, dust storms and degradation from the planet’s soil are highlighted as practical challenges for extraction equipment. - The analysis references a map of the Medusae Fossae Formation that, under certain assumptions about dust thickness, illustrates how some deposits might contain very large volumes of ice. Summary: The study aims to provide a practical roadmap for selecting water-extraction technologies to support sustained missions and eventual settlements on Mars. It reports subsurface ice as the most viable long-term source while describing soil heating and atmospheric harvesting as potential supplementary options with higher energy or time demands. Undetermined at this time.