The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that its ambitious Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission to bring back Martian samples to Earth will also involve air from our neighboring planet.
MSR is NASA's multi-mission campaign, along with the ESA (European Space Agency), to bring back each rock and soil sample to Earth.
Mars Sample Return missionSo far, twenty-four such samples have been collected in titanium tubes, which are being gathered for eventual delivery to Earth.
“The air samples from Mars would tell us not just about the current climate and atmosphere, but how it’s changed over time,” said Brandi Carrier, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Mars has almost no oxygen; it's only one-tenth of one percent of the air, not nearly enough for humans to survive.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that its ambitious Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission to bring back Martian samples to Earth will also involve air from our neighboring planet. MSR is NASA's multi-mission campaign, along with the ESA (European Space Agency), to bring back each rock and soil sample to Earth.
Mars Sample Return mission
So far, twenty-four such samples have been collected in titanium tubes, which are being gathered for eventual delivery to Earth. Most of those samples consist of rock cores or regolith (broken rock and dust) that might reveal important information about the history of the planet and whether microbial life was present billions of years ago. But some scientists are just as thrilled at the prospect of studying the “headspace,” or air in the extra room around the rocky material, in the tubes.
Also read: Can this mysterious 'hole' on Mars help humans colonise the red planet
NASA
Why NASA wants to study Martian air
According to NASA, this would help scientists learn more about the Martian atmosphere, which is composed mostly of carbon dioxide but could also include trace amounts of other gases that may have been around since the planet’s formation.
“The air samples from Mars would tell us not just about the current climate and atmosphere, but how it’s changed over time,” said Brandi Carrier, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “It will help us understand how climates different from our own evolve.”
NASA
How planets form, evolve
“The gas samples have a lot to offer Mars scientists,” said Justin Simon, a geochemist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, who is part of a group of over a dozen international experts that helps decide which samples the rover should collect. “Even scientists who don’t study Mars would be interested because it will shed light on how planets form and evolve.”
Also read: NASA Successfully Produces Oxygen On Mars, Paving Way For Human Exploration
NASA
Martian atmosphere
Mars' atmosphere is over 100 times thinner than Earth's and is primarily composed of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon gases. Mars has almost no oxygen; it's only one-tenth of one percent of the air, not nearly enough for humans to survive.
For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
