Nasa: “solar winds destroyed the atmosphere of Mars” – Aftonbladet

In September, NASA scientific bomb that there is liquid water on Mars.

In the evening it was time for the next big disclosure: solar winds destroyed the atmosphere of Mars and turned it a desert planet.

The new information comes from the spacecraft Maven – Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution – which is in orbit around Mars since September 2014.

spacecraft instruments state that 100 grams of gas will disappear from the Martian atmosphere every second because of solar winds.

– This is like someone would steal coins from one cash each day. The loss will be significant over time, said Bruce Kaovsky, chief investigator at NASA, in a press release.

Increased solar flares

NASA says that solar flares has accelerated the loss of the protective atmosphere. The combination of higher loss levels and increased storms made in March to a desert landscape.

– We have seen that erosion has increased considerably during solar flares. So we believe that the loss of gas was much higher for billions of years ago when the sun was young and more active, says Bruce Kaovsky.

READ ALSO PLUS 20-year-old Robin’s dream: to live on Mars

The new data provide important answers about the enormous transformation that the planet has undergone in the past billion years.

“There were even sea”

– We know that Mars had a much thicker atmosphere than it has today. It was hotter on Mars and even the ocean surface. But then lost the atmosphere, and today the planet is cold and dry desert world with under one percent of the air pressure on Earth, says Maria Sundin, associate professor of theoretical physics at the University of Gothenburg.

What can you really see through the space probe?

– The quantities of different substances in the atmosphere. Mars atmosphere consists of 96 percent carbon dioxide, roughly estimated. But it can also vary in different places and different seasons.

“very exciting”

Andreas Johnsson, Mars Researchers at institiutionen of Earth Sciences at Gothenburg universities, and has conducted research on Mars in nine years.

– The results of Maven is very exciting. For the first time now provides a good estimate of how much of the atmosphere that is lost due to the solar wind, said Andreas Johnsson told Aftonbladet TV (see the full clip here next).

What does this mean for the possibility of life on Mars?

– If life took hold on Mars, it was early in the planet’s development. When was the conditions on Mars probably quite similar to those on Earth. The question is whether life then have had time to adapt to the new tougher conditions on Mars today, says Andreas Johnsson.

– We believe that if life has survived on Mars there is the crust, protected from this radiation.