[X] My Assistant

[azstrummer]

I know that as you go down in elevation on a planet there's a proportional increase in atmospheric density. My question would be - How far would we need to drill down into the Martian soil to get to an atmospheric pressure that would sustain liquid water (assuming the temperature of the water was just above freezing)?

[azstrummer]

50km is pretty daunting an excavation for a human settlement but sounds as if the conditions certainly exist for liquid water to be not only possible but highly probably down beneath the surface. I'd say the next rover needs to have a well-digging apparatus on it.

Man, can you imagine the complexity of such a device? Digging one with human interaction here on Earth is a daunting enough task and involves extremely heavy piping and equipment. Bits continually break and shafts get bent and have to be replaced. Hard to imagine how a robot could handle those issues.