Data from Curiosity pointed to the leak of the Martian atmosphere into space - Reuters

MOSCOW, July 18 – RIA Novosti. The data from the Mars rover Curiosity helped scientists to clarify the chemical and isotopic composition of the Martian atmosphere and found hints that a large part of the air of Mars disappeared in the space of about 4 billion years ago.

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“We recorded an unusually high proportion of” heavy “isotopes in the atmosphere of Mars. Since the light isotopes is easier to leave the atmosphere of the planet than the heavy, it can be considered a sign that the air is really the Red Planet” evaporated “into space. Apparently, There were two such episodes – most of the abrupt disappearance reserves of 4 billion years ago and gradually “leak” in the coming years, “- said Chris Webster of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (USA).

Two groups of astronomers led by Webster and Paul Mahaffy of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Goddard clarified the old information on the composition of the Martian atmosphere and discovered a previously unknown features of her, after analyzing the data collected by SAM instrument on board Curiosity. Their findings were published in two papers in the journal Science.

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Webster and his colleagues measured the proportion of “heavy” isotopes of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen in the atmosphere of Mars and compared them to similar values ??for the Earth and Martian meteorites. According to them, the share of such atoms in the air of Mars was significantly greater than on Earth, which confirms the hypothesis that its atmosphere and water, “disappeared” in space. Judging by the smaller proportion of isotopes in meteorites formed 4-3,7 billion years ago, the lion’s share of reserves of moisture and air disappeared around that time.

Paul Mahaffy scientific team determined the chemical composition of the Martian atmosphere and found several errors in previous assessments. Thus, the proportion of argon in the Martian air was 1.7 times higher than the measurements shown on the “Vikings”, and the ratio of the isotopes it was completely different. Scientists believe that the collected data will help them understand how Mars evolved in the past and whether it could support life.

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