The surface of Mars has many deadly secrets that we don't know

When studying the red planet, scientists are always afraid that it will no longer be "original" because of being contaminated with things from Earth, but new findings suggest that no cell can exist on the surface. of Mars.

No creature exists

When the researchers sent spacecraft to Mars, they had to disinfect them seriously in order not to accidentally bring things on Earth there.

That's because we don't want to contaminate the surface of the red planet with things in our planet's life and this may affect future discoveries, making the findings here. more accurate.

However, a new study published in the Scientific Report poses a surprising idea. Jennifer Wadsworth and Charles Cockell of the University of Edinburgh said that the surface of Mars would essentially not allow any cell to survive. So it may not be a big problem for scientists to worry about the surface of Mars being contaminated by the spacecraft.

Secret on the surface of Mars.(Photo: Space).

In their study, they found that a compound called perchlorate could be activated on the surface of Mars under sunlight. This is important because the active compound can cause the bacteria to die, and this compound is extremely abundant on Mars.

In previous studies, scientists reported that the compound was activated only when there was heat , but on Mars it was so cold that this might not happen.

"Previously we thought that compound would not be activated in Mars conditions. But if we want to search for life on Mars, we have to reconsider this ," Wadsworth said. newspapers.

Researchers have found a way to test this hypothesis by simulating the Mars environment in the laboratory. They use an oxygen-free chamber and regenerate the wavelengths of light on the surface of Mars. They then monitored the effect of perchlorate in this condition on a common contaminant found on the Bacillus subtilis spacecraft.

Under conditions similar to Martian soil, cells die within minutes when the perchlorate is activated. This shows that the surface of Mars is even more toxic than what we think.

Toxic surface

Wadsworth said: "There are many things in Mars's environment that can be lethal to life, as we know. But the biggest challenge to life is the high flow of radioactive ions through the thin atmosphere. and go to the surface. In addition, our research shows that some molecules on the surface may be more toxic. "

In the past, scientists had to disinfect spacecraft that were sent to Mars very carefully to avoid contamination. Even because of this, we are not allowed to explore some regions of Mars, called the Special Zone because we cannot disinfect exploration ships at a level high enough to avoid the risk of infection. dirty.

It is important that we keep all precautions so as not to contaminate Mars.

But now Wadsworth says that this is not necessary. She notes that some living individuals can still survive in extremely harsh environments. The type of bacteria that laboratory testers are not of this type, so they may exist on the surface of Mars.

"But what to say, it is important that we still take every precaution to avoid polluting Mars. We should take as many preventive measures as possible so that our devices can be The most clean disinfection before landing to the Martian surface ', she said.

She also encourages us that we should not be discouraged by this finding. Although there is no life here, bacteria or other forms can exist on the surface or underground. We have the advantage that here we will not be threatened by radiation and active perchlorates.

We do not know how far active perchlorates can spread, but it may travel down several meters below the surface where life can exist.

All of this will be clearer in 2021, when the European ExoMars plane hits the surface of Mars - of course fully disinfected.