Detecting the vibration of NASA's spacecraft before 'death' on Mars

The data left by the NASA spacecraft can explain why Mars, a planet that is suitable for life like Earth, is dying .

In two new studies analyzing the legacy of InSight - NASA's lander, which was decommissioned in December 2022 - a team of American scientists discovered an unprecedented layer of nearly molten silicate surrounding core of Mars .

The new discovery contributes to explaining the mystery of why the Solar System gave birth to three planets suitable for life, but today only Earth is rich in creatures.

Graphic image depicting the structure of Mars with a NASA ship measuring seismology above, the ship "died" in 2022 due to a Martian dust storm that covered the solar arrays - (Photo: IPGP-CNES).

Mars, along with Earth and Venus, are three rocky planets of nearly equal size, located in the Goldilocks zone of the Solar System, where their distance from their parent star creates conditions for a Favorable environment, suitable temperature to have liquid water.

Venus underwent an unfortunate planetary evolution that left it a claustrophobic, hot, extremely slow-rotating greenhouse world.

The history of Mars is more complicated : Through evidence that NASA has collected over decades, scientists are convinced that this world was once a "blue planet" like Earth , with oceans, rivers and lakes. similar.

NASA even believes that ancient river valleys on Mars were once so flooded that they sent many landers there to hunt for biological traces.

Why the red planet became the dry, harsh world it is today is a great mystery.

In 2021, an analysis of seismic data by InSight showed that the Martian structure is quite similar to Earth , consisting of a large low-density core containing liquid iron and lighter elements such as sulfur, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen .

However, these results suggest that the core has a higher proportion of light elements than is feasible.

The new analysis shows that this discrepancy is due to a layer of quasi-molten silicate rock about 150 km thick , the upper part of which was previously misinterpreted as the surface of the core.

Professor Vedran Lekic from the University of Maryland, who led the research team, describes this layer of silicate rock as a blanket wrapped around the core, insulating heat from the core, preventing it from cooling, while also concentrating radioactive elements that disperse into the core. Their decay generates heat.

"When that happens, the core cannot create the convection movements necessary to create a magnetic field. This explains why Mars currently has no active magnetic field around it" - Professor Lekic explained.

Earth's magnetosphere is the armor that protects us and all structures on the planet from harsh cosmic rays. The lack of a magnetic field is the reason why Mars is damaged , losing all water on the surface and preventing life from continuing.

" The difference between Earth and Mars may be due to differences in internal structure and different planetary evolutionary paths " - concludes Professor Lekic, a conclusion that emphasizes how lucky the Earth was. on the journey of evolution and giving us a chance to survive.