Martian dust storms fling water higher into the atmosphere than previously thought possible, helping to strip the Red Planet of its limited water and potentially contributing to the loss of an ocean's worth of water over billions of years, a new study finds.
The research reveals that summer dust storms can send water to the top of Mars' atmosphere , destroying the molecule and allowing hydrogen to escape into space.
Mars is thought to have supported an ocean or two in its early days. But the water that could have once kept the planet's surface habitable was lost over the eons, and scientists have been searching for the cause. Now, researchers using NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN spacecraft, or MAVEN , have learned that powerful summer dust storms may carry water above the hygropause, a cold layer in the atmosphere that traps water lower down.
Quite a lot has been going on:
A High Resolution, Cross-Eyed Look at the Entire Surface of Mars - Universe Today
A group of amateur and professional astronomers have collaborated to create what may be the highest resolution global map of Mars ever created with images taken from Earth.
The images were taken with the 1-meter telescope at the Pic-du-Midi observatory in the Pyrenees of France, during several nights in October and November, 2020 when Mars was at opposition, or its closest approach to Earth.
"The team went to the observatory for a first mission from October 7-18, 2020," noted amateur astrophotographer Thierry Legault told Universe Today. "The weather was not very good (lots of clouds and even snow) and seeing was unsatisfactory. But we recorded several videos, and they helped later to fill gaps in the global (360°) map of Mars."
Werner Herzog: Elon Musk's Mars city is a 'mistake' and an 'obscenity' -
Humans should "not be like the locusts," Herzog said, but instead should "look to keep our planet inhabitable."
For Musk, colonizing Mars is the first step to escaping this fate. But Herzog told Inverse he is not convinced.
"I have to tell not only Elon Musk, but everyone," he said. "It is an obscenity. The thought alone is an obscenity."
* * *
"Thank God, both these gigantic utopias were brought to an end," he said, adding that the same will happen to Musk's Martian city. "Our century very quickly will bring to an end technological utopia like colonizing Mars."
NASA rover helps scientists find signs of megafloods on Mars : The Tribune India
Analysing data collected by NASA's Curiosity rover, scientists have found that floods of unimaginable magnitude once washed through Gale Crater on Mars' equator around four billion years ago.
The raging megaflood -- likely touched off by the heat of a meteoritic impact, which unleashed ice stored on the Martian surface -- set up gigantic ripples that are tell-tale geologic structures familiar to scientists on Earth.
"We identified megafloods for the first time using detailed sedimentological data observed by the rover Curiosity," said co-author Alberto Fairen, a visiting astrobiologist at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Quite a lot has been going on:
Photos: Villa Joseph Marie falls to Mars in PIAA Championship
New game 'Mars Horizon' shows the real challenges of running a space agency | Space
A typical person watching a space agency may see a vast organization working on dozens of missions at a time, without really knowing the individual steps behind each launch.
That's where the new space strategy game 'Mars Horizon,' which launches today (Nov. 17) on multiple platforms , hopes to clear up confusion for space fans, Tomas Rawlings, the CEO of game developer Auroch Digital, told Space.com. The goal of the game is to build a space agency's program from starter orbital missions into more advanced spaceflights that span the solar system .
Mars girls soccer caps undefeated season with second straight state title | Trib HSSN | Trib HSSN
Mars senior Ellie Coffield (3) hoists the PIAA Class 3A girls soccer championship trophy with her teammates after defeating Villa Joseph Marie, 2-0, in the state final Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, at Hersheypark Stadium.
Mars’ Gracie Dunaway celebrates after scoring during the first half of the PIAA Class 3A girls soccer state championship game against Villa Joseph Marie Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, at Hersheypark Stadium.
Mars’ Gracie Dunaway battles Villa Joseph Katherine Sullivan for possession during the first half of the PIAA Class 3A girls soccer state championship game on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, at Hersheypark Stadium.
A 'Beaver Moon Eclipse' Meets Mars And The Seven Sister Stars: What You Can See In The Night Sky
The night skies will this week be dominated by a a waxing gibbous moon, though the full moon "Beaver ... [+] Moon" at the end of the week will also be a penumbral lunar eclipse.
With a Last Quarter Moon waxing towards Sunday's full "Beaver Moon" lunar eclipse, there's a rather bleached night sky this week.
However, with the Moon getting close to Mars, plenty of planets on show and Thanksgiving in North America perhaps affording some time to stargaze, it's a great week to get outside and enjoy the fall night sky.
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