Ancient Mars atmosphere resembles Earth

The new study supports the hypothesis that Mars initially had a thick and humid atmosphere, with a fairly similar climate on Earth today.

Some previous studies have shown that Mars has been warmer and wetter, and the new report from the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA) supports this hypothesis.

The Curiosity probe will land on Mars on August 5

Accordingly, the original Mars has a high density of air at least 20 times higher than today. Currently the red planetary atmosphere is about 1% lower than Earth, one of the main reasons determining the arid state of the planet.

Assistant Professor Josef Dufek of the Georgia Institute of Technology drew the conclusion when analyzing ancient volcanic eruptions, as well as surface observations made by Spirit self-propelled probes in mission in 2007.

'Atmospheric pressure is more likely to play an important role in forming most of Mars ' surface characteristics ,' notes Dufek on Geophysical Research Letters.

Dufek's team is waiting for the upcoming data of the Curiosity self-propelled probe, estimated to land on Mars's surface on August 5.

With manufacturing costs of up to $ 2.5 billion, Curiosity is one of the largest and most advanced exploration devices the US has ever made in an effort to find life on Mars.