Martian soil contains 2% water - The Point

The Point.fr – Published on 26/09/2013 at 22:46

This discovery, made from a sample made by the robot Curiosity opens new perspectives for the human exploration of the Red planet.

This discovery opens new perspectives for the human exploration of the Red planet. “One of the most exciting results of the study of the first sample analyzed by Curiosity is the high percentage of water in the Martian soil, which is about 2%”, welcomed Laurie Leshin, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in the State of New York, co-author of a study published online Thursday in the journal Science . The sample was heated to 835 degrees Celsius, has also reached significant proportions of carbon dioxide (CO2), oxygen and sulfur compounds, but the water was the most abundant gaseous element , she says. According to the scientist, you could take about a liter of 0.03 cubic meters (one cubic foot) of the Martian sand, “which is a lot.”

“Until March was seen – outside the polar regions – as a very dry desert, and although it is a much smaller proportion of water as that found in a sample of ground floor is a substantial and important resource “for future explorers of Mars, she told AFP. “This water is almost everywhere on the planet in the surface soil under your feet and be an astronaut if you simply heat a little of the soil for water,” she notes.

“Mars is covered with a layer of sand so that is mixed and travels throughout the world due to frequent dust storms, so a sample of the soil is like having a microscopic collection of all Martian rocks …. and a good idea of ??the entire surface of Mars, “she advanced. Water is abundant on Mars in the form of ice in the polar regions. In 2003, the European Mars Express spacecraft in orbit around the planet, had confirmed the presence of water ice in the south polar cap. Shortly after she discovered the presence of permafrost around the north pole extending over hundreds of square kilometers.

March conducive to microbial life

addition to the work on the analysis of gases in the Martian soil, four other research with other instruments onboard Curiosity also published Thursday in Science . They have helped to advance the understanding of the nature and structure of the Martian soil and the role of water. Arrived in the Gale Crater on the Martian equator Aug. 6, 2012, Curiosity rover to the six most sophisticated wheels ever sent to another planet, has already established that the Red planet was favorable for microbial life in the distant past, which was the main objective of his two-year mission.

A study published last week, however, had dampened the hopes of finding traces of present life on Mars, indicating that Curiosity n ‘had found no trace of methane in the atmosphere. In recent weeks, the robot has picked his way to Mount Sharp, five miles distant and main exploration target of the mission. His journey will take several months, especially as Curiosity will stop on the way to analyze considered interesting geological formations. The foot of Mount Sharp of great interest because of different sedimentary layers that could help date the periods when Mars was suitable for life.