Mars is losing water faster than expected, scientists say.
Sunlight during the red planet’s warm and stormy season is transforming molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, which then float off due to weak Martian gravity.
Space scientists were left scratching their heads at the discovery, which was completely unprecedented.
Although it had been predicted that the planet, which is once thought to have been home to an abundance of flowing water, was becoming dryer, the loss was predicted at a much slower rate.
The discovery was made using the Trace Gas Orbiter probe that was sent to the red planet onboard the ExoMars mission and carried out by the European Space Agency.
According to Mail Online, Franck Montmessin from the French team said: “Measurements showed that large atmospheric pockets are even in a state of supersaturation, with the atmosphere containing 10 to 100 times more water vapor than its temperature should theoretically allow”.
He added: “The atmosphere is thus regularly supersaturated in water vapor, which allows even more water to reach the upper atmosphere, where the sun’s UV rays disassociate them into atoms.”
Montmessin concludes: “Mars once harbored an active hydrological cycle, as demonstrated by geological features on its surface, but it no longer holds the quantity of water required to produce such geological imprints.”
“Water in the atmosphere is a negligible component of the planet’s total water inventory, but nevertheless regulates the dissipation of water over time.”
The discovery was published in the journal Science.
Ref;nypost.com