Mars characteristic Red comes from a mineral ferrihidrite, which is formed only in the presence of cold water, claims a new study.
Ferrihidrite is also formed at a lower temperature than other minerals that make a suitably called the surface of the red planet, such as hematite, which was previously considered the main reason for its shade.
“This suggests that Mars may have had an environment that could have maintained running water before moving from wet to a dry environment of a billion years ago,” NASA said in a statement this week.
NASA partially funded the studio.
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Mars characteristic red comes from a mineral ferrihidrite, which is formed only in the presence of cold water, claims a new study. (AFP via Getty Images)
Researchers in the study, published in Nature Communications this week, analyzed data from several Mars missions, including several Mars Rovers, and the findings were compared to laboratory experiments “where the team tested that the light operates in interaction with Ferrihidrite particles and other minerals under the simulated Martian terms,” ” Said Nasa.
“The fundamental question of why Mars is red considered hundreds, if not thousands of years,” said the chief author of the study Adam Valantinas in a statement.
Valantinas is a postdoctoral associate at Brown University who started his studies as a doctorate. Student at Bern University in Switzerland.
He continued: “From our analysis, we believe that Ferrihidrite is everywhere in the dust, and also probably in the rocks. We are also not the first to find Ferrihidrite a reason why Mars red, but now we can better test it with observation data and new laboratory methods to make a Martian dust basically in the laboratory.”
In this brochure published by NASA, Mars landscape shows in a photo taken by a panoramic camera on Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in 2003. (NASA/LAT propulsion lab/University Cornell via Getty Images)
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Senior author of the study, Jack Mustard, called the studio “The opportunity to open a door”.
“This gives us a better opportunity to apply the principles of the creation and conditions of minerals to return at the time,” said Mr., a professor at Brown University. “What is even more important is the return of samples from Mars currently collecting Rover persistent Rover. When we return them, we can actually check and see if this is okay.”
The study shows that Mars probably had a cool but wet and potentially populated climate in its ancient past.
Mars atmosphere is too cold and then to support life now, but a billion years ago planet She had an abundance of water, Nasa said, which was also proven in the Ferrihidrite found in the dust.
Laboratory pattern of simulated Mars dust. (NASA/Adam Valantinas)
“These new discoveries indicate the potentially populated past for Mars and highlight the value of coordinated research between NASA and its international partners when exploring basic questions about our solar system and the future of space research,” said Geronimo Villanueva, an associate director of Strategic Sciences on Solar System Research, and CO.
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Valantinas said that what researchers “want to understand the ancient Mars climate, chemical processes on Mars – not only ancient – but also present.”
He continued: “Then the question is about the state: whether there was any life? To understand that, you must understand the conditions that were present at the time of the formation of this mineral. What we know from this study indicated the formation of Ferihydrite and that this happened, there were conditions in which it was still from the air, and these conditions were very different.
