Bruce M. Jakosky (d) and Jim Green (i), NASA, explain the possible origin of the water loss from the red planet. Photo: EFE
Strong solar storms that hit Mars were the cause of the loss of its atmosphere, which forced disappearance of water and habitable climate of Mars, revealed today NASA scientists.
“We water and found, but if you look at Mars today is a cold, dry desert planet “he said at a press conference Michael Meyer, head of Exploration Program NASA Mars.
Currently, the surface of Mars is less than 60 degrees below zero average temperature, but at the poles in winter can be reached at least 125 degrees Celsius.
The new findings of Volatile Evolution Mission and Atmospheric Mars (Maven) space agency indicate that Mars suffers bombardment of solar particles that erode the upper atmosphere at a rate of about 10 pounds (4.5 kilos) per second, a factor which is between 10 and 20 times more than usual.
temperature
The current atmosphere of the planet has only 1% of the density of Earth.
“What this we says is that the loss via the space has been an important process, “said Bruce M. Jakosky scientist Laboratory Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado and principal investigator of the Maven mission, at a press conference.
Jakosky compared the process of solar wind that whips Mars to what happens to a person when out of the shower to the breeze and this will removes water from the hair.
“I think We’re at the first strong evidence that the exhaust gases into space was the main actor of climate change suffered by Mars in the past, “he added.
One of the objectives of more than 125 researchers who are part of NASA’s mission is figuring out which gases and how much of them escaped into space from the Martian atmosphere and when that happened.
According to agency scientists, billions of years ago, in the beginning, the sun was much more active and unstable and caused numerous solar storms may be the reason Mars, much more exposed than the Earth to these phenomena happen to be a hot and humid place to chill desert planet now.
The Earth has a magnetic field that protects these solar storms, while Mars has no such protection.
Also, Maven also recorded ultraviolet auroras in the Martian atmosphere.
Science / Incognita
The Maven spacecraft, launched on 18 November 2013 to solve the mystery of how Mars lost most of its atmosphere and its mass of water, entered Mars orbit in September and must complete a one-year mission.
data Maven try to complete those provided by the robot Curiosity, which carries on the planet since 2012, and reveal that Mount Sharp, located inside the crater Gale, could be formed by sediments deposited in the bed of a lake millions of years ago .
In its first 12 months, the robot discovered the ancient bed of the watercourse and collected samples of soil sufficient to conclude that there could have been life million years ago.
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