NASA: Mars May Not be Able to Sustain Life - http://clapway.com/2015/11/06/nasa-mars-may-not-be-able-to-sustain-life123/

NASA’s MAVEN mission, or Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, has unearthed what influenced changes in Martian climate that made it go from perfectly able to sustain life to not being able to at all. The data collected has been able to show evidence to determine how much of the Martian atmosphere is losing gas to space. It turns out that solar winds from solar storms erode Mars’ atmosphere.

Mars has all the resources and geological requirements to sustain life, and understanding just how it became this cold and arid is a key mission for NASA. The agency hopes to learn what inspired these changes and what caused them. According to MAVEN measurements, the solar wind strips the Martian atmosphere of gas at a rate of about 100 grams every second, and the loss becomes more significant with time, especially in the solar storms hitting the red planet in 2015. Researchers speculate that the loss was even more significant when the sun was younger and more active.

At the rate that this solar storms are hitting Mars, it is likely that the planet’s atmosphere will be eroded to the point where it can never become habitable again, unless NASA devices a way to revert the effects of the solar winds.

 

NASA: Mars May Not be Able to Sustain Life

This is not the first time a mohawk has been associated with Mars. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/21/scientists-discover-that-mars-has-a-mohawk-345/

Many already consider Mars to be the Earth’s coolest neighbor. But the red planet just got a whole lot cooler because scientists discovered that Mars has a mohawk.

THE PUNK ROCK PLANET

Data from NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft reveals that Mars might have a bit of a punk rock attitude.

The key objective of the MAVEN mission, which was launched in November, 2013, is to investigate how Mars lost most of its atmosphere. MAVEN scientists discussed early results from data collected by MAVEN at a workshop held at the Space Sciences Laboratory in Berkeley, CA June 19-21.

According to researchers, space radiation converts atoms in the upper atmosphere of Mars to electrically charged ions. And these charged ions are stripped away from the upper atmosphere by the electric and magnetic forces in solar winds, which would explain the thinning of the Martian atmosphere over time.

Scientists have been studying plumes of atmospheric particles at the planet’s poles. And, based on theoretical models, they believe the forces in solar winds might push ions towards one pole or the other. “When tracing particle trajectories in the models, the plume looks a bit like a mohawk,” says MAVEN scientist David Brain.

COPYING THE MOHAWK GUY?

This is not the first time a mohawk has been associated with Mars.

In 2012, JPL flight engineer Bobak Ferdowsi took some of the spotlight away from the successful landing of NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars. During NASA TV’s live broadcast of the historic event, Ferdowsi was positioned prominently in front of the camera. And he was sporting a mohawk. The media loved it, and his hairstyle made almost as many headlines as the rover’s landing. The flood of media attention resulted in his becoming known as “The Mohawk Guy.”

Ferdowsi even posted on Twitter in response to the news that he and Mars share the same hairstyle.

I suppose it was only a matter of time between me & Marvin the Martian that we see a real Mars mohawk. https://t.co/ZOrynx2nlp

— Bobak Ferdowsi (@tweetsoutloud) June 20, 2015

MAVEN’S FUTURE

MAVEN continues studying the atmosphere of Mars in order to better understand the planet’s history and potential habitability. Its mission was scheduled to run through November, 2015. But its success has resulted in the extension of the mission through September 2016.

---

 

The Sun comes to your office with Sun LifeLight. It’s now in blue:

Scientists Discover That Mars Has a Mohawk