SPACE NEWS - Water on Mars?

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so i'm in office hours and no one is coming so i've got time to do this

Alright so this is super interesting to me but I have no academic knowledge of space whatsoever.

that's the point of this

How are radio waves used on Mars’ South Pole if it’s not oriented directly at us? And what frequency are waves that can penetrate miles underground? Do these have uses on Earth?

The radio waves come from the MARSIS instrument on the Mars Express satellite orbiting the planet! They use low frequency radio waves (specifically 3-5 MHz) based on testing on Earth's ice sheets, actually! I don't know about any other specific uses on Earth but I believe a similar technique was used to analyze the subglacial lakes in Antarctica.

How many similarities does Mars have, if any, with the early Earth atmosphere / conditions that first resulted (in theory) in the synthesis of organics from inorganics?

This is actually a point of contention - there are some fairly accepted theories that Mars once had a nice atmosphere somewhat like Earth's, but due to it's small gravitational force and extremely weak magnetic field, the ultraviolet photons and solar wind were able to strip the atmosphere away to the very thin one we have left. If life were to have formed on Mars, it would need a fairly thick atmosphere with a good greenhouse effect, since the past Sun was slightly weaker than the one we have today.

I thought it was established that Mars already had water on it at one point or another but the lack of atmosphere protection against the radiation lead Mars to turn from an earth like place to what it is now?

well that was prescient. That is basically one of the leading theories.

Also good to know my GM is a space nerd as well. I fucking love space.

actual picture of wolfie in space

i dont trust them space stuffs

the earth is a dodecahedron, dont believe their lies