How to squeeze moisture from Mars - The Republic

by nasa

source: NASA

class=”author”> Krzysztof Urbanski 27-09-2013

Although Mars has no running water, the astronauts will not have to take it out of the earth.

– We now know that Mars is an abundance of readily available water – said prof. Laurie Leshin of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. – People who get there, will be able to dig up some ground at any point on the planet’s surface, heat it i .. will have water.

Prof. Leshin is the co-author of one of the five articles in today’s issue of the journal “Science”, which reveal the results of experiments conducted by the rover Curiosity. About 2 percent. land on the Martian surface consists of water. Also significant is the amount of carbon dioxide, oxygen and sulfur compounds.

– excellent result has already resulted in the first portion of land that Curiosity took a spoon scoop and placed in the ship’s laboratory – explains prof. Leshin. – But this is only the beginning of the story, we reconstruct the distant planet.

Curiosity landed in Gale Crater 6 August 2012 year. The main task of the rover is to answer the question of whether Mars could ever be home to living organisms. Therefore, the primary instruments are equipped Curiosity to identify chemical compounds and elements essential for life.

team, which is working prof. Leshin, analyzed the results, which provided a SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars), an integrated set of tools including a gas chromatograph, and spectrometers: mass and laser.

Bucket Curiosity deep into the ground five times. The researchers wanted to collect dust and slightly coarser granules the size of grains of sand and larger pieces of rock. The samples went to a special tray inside the SAM laboratory where they are heated to a temperature of 835 degrees Celsius. The determination of the chemical composition of samples allowed the analysis of released gases.

Researchers also found the isotope ratios of hydrogen and carbon in the Martian water and carbon dioxide. Isotopes are variants of the same element that differ only in the number of neutrons.

– The proportion in which they appear isotopes confirms that the dust moves around the planet and reacts with atmospheric gases – explains Professor. Leshin.

SAM instruments also recorded small amounts of simple organic compounds. Scientists are not sure if they are Martian origin. May have occurred during the experiment. Land of the Martian surface can react with organic compounds brought from Earth.

– Trade organic rather not have the space – says prof. Leshin. – Is exposed to intense radiation and oxidation. We will look for them when Curiosity wwierci deeper under the surface of the planet.

researchers do not hide the belief that if the surface will be found organic compounds, it will be a breakthrough that will set a new direction of research.

– but today we comprehensive information on the surface of Mars – says Dr. Paul Mahaffy, principal scientist experiment SAM Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA in Maryland. – Data obtained by Curiosity deepened our understanding of the processes occurring on the surface and the role of water on Mars. This was achieved through a combination of analyzes of data from instruments, SAM and compare them with the results obtained by other devices rover.