RMF 24: The Sun blew Mars atmosphere – Interia

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Weekly ‘Science’ publishes four recent works devoted to the results of studies of the Martian atmosphere. These reports are the fruit of experiments conducted by the probe MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution), observing the atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere of the Red Planet since September last year. NASA has just announced that the results of these analyzes indicate inter alia that Mars once had a denser actually atmosphere, but the solar wind … blew it to him.

The solar wind” bombing “the atmosphere of Mars

/ NASA

It is known that solar activity is able to bring to the big magnetic storm, which may be damaging to the earth’s technical infrastructure. This risk appreciates the US government, which has requested to prepare a special report on the threat. Read more

One of the main objectives of the mission MAVEN, but an exact description of the current state of the atmosphere of Mars is just an attempt to answer the question whether in the past the Red Planet was surrounded by an atmosphere that could encourage the creation of life and what had happened, that the atmosphere today almost nothing left.

A study conducted on March 8 of this year, when directed toward the planet coronal mass ejection show that the accelerated process of ionisation of gases and related subsequent escape of these ions have a strong relationship with solar activity. Everything thus indicates that the Red Planet is not protected by a strong magnetic field, fell victim to the influence of the same star, who has previously contributed to its creation. NASA scientists emphasize that the MAVEN mission for the first time identified a specific process, which probably made it moist and warm the planet once became so cold and dry, we observe today.

“Understanding what happened around Mars will give us knowledge about the dynamics and evolution of the atmospheres around other planets,” – says John Grunsfeld, astronaut and deputy head of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “Knowledge about what needs to happen to the environment of the planet with one that should sustain the life of microorganisms, changed such that they no favors, is also essential for preparations for a manned mission to Mars,” – he added.

NASA | Solar Wind Strips Martian Atmosphere

MAVEN probe measurements indicate that Mars lost at the moment an average of about 100 grams of gas per second. “Like stealing every day just a few coins from the cash register, so this loss becomes significant only after some time” – adds the head of the scientific mission of Bruce Jakosky of the University of Colorado. “We see that significantly speeds up the erosion of the atmosphere during solar storms, so we suspect that this process was much more intense billions of years ago, when the Sun was much younger and more active,” – explains.

Grzegorz Jasinski