Revealing the cause of Mars without the atmosphere

The Curiosity probe of the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) has found evidence that up to 90% of Mars's original atmosphere has disappeared into space throughout the history of its formation and development. red planet.

Members of the Curiosity vessel's Mars exploration management group have announced new discoveries of a million-dollar exploratory machine at the meeting of the European Council of Geological Sciences 2013 in Vienna, Austria. .

The Curiosity Mars (SAM) sample analyzer has analyzed an air sample last week through a process of concentrating the collected gases. The results provided the most accurate measurements to date of the isotopes of argon in the Martian atmosphere. Isotopes are variations of the same element with different atomic mass.

Illustration of Curiosity exploration ship operating on Mars. (Photo: NASA)

"We have discovered the clearest and most powerful sign of Mars' atmospheric loss , " said Sushil Atreya, a SAM equipment specialist from the University of Michigan.

The SAM device discovered, Mars's atmosphere contained a more stable and lighter isotope (argon-36) four times the amount of a heavier isotope (argon-38). This helped eliminate the previous ambiguities of the red planet's isotope atmosphere, which was based on 1976 measurements from NASA's Viking project and from small amounts of argon extracted from stellar meteorites. Fire.

The newly discovered ratio is much lower than the rate of isotopes in the early atmosphere of the solar system. It refers to Mars having undergone a mild isotope leak more than a heavy isotope.

Researchers also revealed the Mars weather test results of the Curiosity. Thanks to the Spanish-equipped REMS device, the Curiosity has measured many variables in the current Mars atmosphere. Although the daily air temperature on the red planet has continued to increase since the measurement process began 8 months ago and this phenomenon is not related to the position of the probe, the moisture has other signs. Very large differences between different locations on Curiosity's path.

According to NASA, these are the first systematic measurements of the humidity on Mars. The dust spots do not exist inside the Gale hole - where the Curiosity ships land on the red planet, but the sensors of the REMS device detect many types of whirlwinds during the first 100 days of the Mars exploration mission.

"A whirlwind can happen very quickly, in a matter of seconds and varies depending on a combination of factors such as pressure, temperature, wind fluctuation and in some cases the attenuation of ultraviolet radiation ", Javier Gómez-Elvira - head of REMS equipment team from the Astronomical Center in Madrid said.

Experts revealed that until the end of April, the Curiosity vessel will continue to carry out the directed daily activities received in March. No requests have been sent to this expedition ship in time. 4 weeks, when Mars moves near the back of the Sun, looks from Earth. This geometry occurs every 26 months and is called the Mars-Sun engagement.