Why is Mars barren and uninhabitable, while life has always thrived here on our relatively similar planet Earth?
Mars is thought to currently have all the necessary ingredients for life except for perhaps the most important one: liquid water.
However Mars has a “feeble” rate of volcanic outgassing compared to Earth, Kite said.
It is still possible that there are pockets of liquid water deep underground on Mars we have not yet found, Kite said.
But only for Mars and Earth can scientists study rocks which allow them to understand the planet’s past, Kite said.
How come life has always flourished on our comparatively similar planet Earth, but Mars is barren and uninhabitable?
A NASA rover’s discovery has provided a clue to this mystery, according to new research released Wednesday. It suggests that although rivers once flowed occasionally on Mars, the planet was destined to be primarily a desert.
Everything required for life is believed to be present on Mars at this time, with the possible exception of liquid water, which is perhaps the most crucial component.
However, the ancient lakes and rivers that have carved out the red surface indicate that water once flowed on our nearest neighbor.
Read more about this strange rock that was discovered on Mars.
For evidence of life that might have existed on Mars millions of years ago, when conditions were more hospitable, a number of rovers are currently scouring the planet.
This puzzle was completed earlier this year when NASA’s Curiosity rover found rocks that are high in carbonate minerals.
These “carbonates”—like limestone on Earth—collect carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and hold it in place in the rock like a sponge.
The existence of these rocks could alter our knowledge of Mars’ past, according to a recent study that was published in the journal Nature.
A few “oases”.
The Curiosity team member and lead study author Edwin Kite, a planetary scientist at the University of Chicago, told AFP that it seemed there were “blips of habitability in some times and places” on Mars.
However, rather than being the norm, these “oases” were the exception.
The atmosphere of Earth warms due to carbon dioxide. Carbon is trapped in rocks like carbonates over extended periods of time.
The gas is then ejected back into the atmosphere by volcanic eruptions, resulting in a climate cycle that is in balance and supports continuously flowing water.
Kite noted that Mars’ volcanic outgassing rate is “feeble” in comparison to Earth’s. This upsets the equilibrium, making Mars considerably colder and less habitable.
The modeling research indicates that Mars experienced brief periods of liquid water followed by 100 million years of arid desert, which is a long time for anything to survive.
“We have not yet discovered any pockets of liquid water deep underground on Mars, but it is still possible,” Kite said.
According to him, carbonate evidence has also been discovered at the edge of a dried-up lake by NASA’s Perseverance Rover, which touched down on an ancient Martian delta in 2021.
The scientists’ next goal is to find additional carbonate evidence.
The return of rock samples from the Martian surface to Earth, which China and the United States are vying for within the next ten years, is the best evidence, according to Kite.
Are we by ourselves?
One of the most important questions that scientists are trying to answer is how common it is for planets like Earth to support life.
From the beginning of the 1990s, astronomers have found almost 6,000 planets outside of our Solar System.
However, Kite stated that scientists can only study rocks on Earth and Mars, which enables them to comprehend the planet’s past.
It would suggest that it is challenging to establish life throughout the universe if we were to discover that Mars never supported even microscopic microorganisms during its wet periods.
According to Kite, however, finding evidence of ancient life would “basically be telling us the origin of life is easy on a planetary scale.”.
