Module 4 - Follow the Water

A final Splash - Summary

In this module we have explored the properties of water and then examined the role of water in our solar system. We are fortunate to live on the only planet in the solar system that has liquid water on the surface. The next time that you get soaked in an unexpected downpour; please remember that you are fortunate.  We can find ice on the surface of all solid worlds, with the exception of Venus.  This too is good news if, someday, we want to leave this planet and establish settlements elsewhere. We would most likely live on or near the surface and we will need water.  Venus is certainly off the shortlist of places to go, and Mercury would also be far down that list.

But the story of water in the solar system does not simply end with ice.  The special properties of water with respect to density and solubility allow for the existence of briny water on and below the surface of Mars, and for liquid oceans beneath the icy shells of satellites.  We will not be able to swim within these oceans in the near future, but as we will see in the next section, they are very important for the possible existence of extraterrestrial life within the solar system.
 

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