The robotic vehicle Curiosity has confirmed that in the atmosphere of Mars fluctuations of methane are recorded, opening new avenues of investigation into the sources that produce this gas include those that can be some kind of biological activity.
That is the main conclusion of research published yesterday by the US magazine Science and also opens a new line to study the mechanisms are through which the gas is removed with unexplained rapid Martian air.
The work includes the participation of two Spanish researchers and, according to its authors, solves “the prolonged controversy” about the presence of this compound in the Martian atmosphere, which began more than a decade with the first detections of methane from ground-based telescopes, and later revived with the measurements obtained from the orbital probes sent to Mars.
The current measures of episodic increase concentration of methane in the Martian atmosphere has made the SAM instrument – part of the scientific team that equipped the Curiosity -. through the tunable laser spectrometer
Unknown Source
The results indicate that, although the levels of methane in the Martian atmosphere (specifically in Gale Crater, where the rover does its job) are generally lower what the models predicted, they rebound often.
This implies that the gas is produced periodically by a source close that scientists still unknown, said Science .
As reported by the Group for Planetary Sciences and Habitability the Andalusian Institute of Earth Sciences (joint center of the University of Granada and the Higher Council for Scientific Research), the results are derived from a comprehensive analysis of data for 605 soles (Martian days)
A Martian day lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35,244 seconds.; ie, about 3 percent more than a terrestrial one.
Since it was first announced the detection of methane in the Martian atmosphere with telescope-France-Hawaii Canada Observatory in Mauna Kea, is have occurred over the last few years several measurements of gas through various instruments, both Remote sensing from Earth and from spacecraft in orbit ( Mars Express and Mars Global Surveyor ).
As a very noticeable methane product of biological activity almost everyone who on Earth has this origin-high expectations were opened to the possibility that this was also the case in Mars.
However, in the absence of a model capable of justifying his generation, localization and rapid disappearance, detections began to question and were attributed to defects resulting from the measurements, said the institute . Andalusian in a statement
Precise measurements
The Curiosity has been able to obtain accurate measurements: the SAM detected values Baseline methane concentration around 0.7 parts per billion by volume and confirmed episodic event increased up to 10 times that value over a period of 60 soles.
As for why these jets methane are sporadic, this work points to a correlation with certain environmental variables, such as relative humidity and ambient temperature.
These measures are taken by the REMS (a weather station made in Spain) instrument and the work suggests that, for example, increased pressure peaks could be more methane.
However, this still need to check in later studies.
This work, along with another that publish the journal Journal of Geophysical Research on the location of organic compounds such as clorobenceno- on the floor of Gale Crater, were presented yesterday at the Congress of geophysical AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, USA.
At the meeting Paz Zorzano Spanish scientists from the Centre for Astrobiology INTA and CSIC, Javier Martín Torres, the Andalusian Institute of Earth Sciences participated.
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postponed release capsule to the ISS
The NASA postponed for Friday launch a cargo pod to supply the International Space Station (ISS) in order to “take extra time to make sure everything on the ground to prepare a successful launch is done,” the agency said.
The capsule, which would be launched yesterday, is fifth of the company SpaceX, with which NASA has already signed a contract to transport astronauts to US technology to not depend on other countries.
The decision comes shortly after two accidents in private industry, to NASA gave the job to supply missions.
In October, Orbital Sciences Antares rocket exploded shortly after starting with two tons of cargo for the space complex and, days later, two pilots died in a test flight of the spacecraft SpaceShipTwo Virgin Galactic.
These missions are a symbol of a new era for America, that removing its shuttle fleet in 2011 lost the ability to perform manned in a vehicle owned and has depended on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to send astronauts to the ISS, at a cost of 70 million dollars per trip.
EFE / Washington
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