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The first halogen gas has been detected on Mars, shedding new light on the history of the Red Planet.
The ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft detected hydrogen chloride, which is made up of one hydrogen atom and one chlorine atom.
Chlorine- or sulfur-based gases are possible indicators of volcanic activity, which Mars scientists were already looking to discover, but the new find has some strange qualities.
The fact that this particular discovery was made in distant locations at the same time, with no other gases that would be expected from Martian volcanoes, means that an unknown process is taking place between the planet’s surface and its atmosphere.
Scientists suggest that salt, the remnants of Martian oceans, are carried into the atmosphere by winds. Sunlight warms the atmosphere and causes dust and water vapor to rise. These two components come together to release chlorine and eventually produce hydrogen chlorine.
“The discovery of the first new trace gas in the atmosphere of Mars is an important milestone for the Trace Gas Orbiter mission,” says Håkan Svedhem, ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter project scientist, in a statement.
“This is the first new class of gas discovered since ESA’s Mars Express observation of methane in 2004, which prompted a search for other organic molecules and ultimately led to the development of the Trace Gas Orbiter mission, for which detecting new gases is a primary goal. “
Understanding these processes in more detail, on a planet that is 194.65 million kilometers away, is vital to understanding how the Martian climate evolved, especially since the cycle is very similar to that of Earth.
“The change of seasons on Mars, and in particular the relatively hot summer in the southern hemisphere appears to be the driving force behind our new observations, such as the increased loss of atmospheric water and dust activity related to the detection of hydrogen chloride. , which we see in the last two studies ”, adds Håkan.
“The Trace Gas Orbiter observations allow us to explore the Martian atmosphere like never before.”
Scientists can also measure water vapor and ‘semi-heavy’ water, which is when a hydrogen atom in the compound is replaced by a deuterium atom.
“The deuterium to hydrogen ratio, D / H, is our stopwatch, a powerful metric that informs us about the history of water on Mars and how water loss evolved over time,” said Geronimo Villanueva of the Goddard Space Flight Center. from NASA.
These developments can now be measured in more detail than ever. “It’s like we only had a 2D view before, now we can explore the atmosphere in 3D,” said Ann Carine Vandaele, principal investigator for the Nadir and Concealment Instrument for Mars Discovery (NOMAD) that was used for this research.
Recently, another probe was sent to our closest planetary neighbor to study its surroundings.
The United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe mission successfully completed a challenging maneuver that risked sending the probe into space to enter an orbit around Mars.
