NASA's Perseverance Rover and Mars Atmosphere Research
TapTechNews reported on June 25 that the Perseverance rover of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been collecting not only rocks on the surface of Mars, but also the Martian atmosphere sealed in the sample tube, which interests scientists a lot.
Since landing on Mars in 2021, the Perseverance has collected 24 samples of Martian rocks and dust (also known as the regolith). These cores are believed to reveal the ancient history of Mars and whether there was once life on Mars, but the air sealed in the sample tubes is equally important. Scientists think that the fresh air from the red planet can reveal new clues about the Martian atmosphere.
The air samples from Mars can not only tell us about the current climate and atmospheric conditions, but also how it has changed over time, said Brandi Carrier, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California, in a statement, This will help us understand how the climates of other planets different from the Earth evolve.
These samples are sealed in titanium alloy tubes with extra space around the rock materials to accommodate the Martian atmosphere.
The gases may also reveal trace gases in the Martian atmosphere, which is mainly composed of carbon dioxide but may also contain a small amount of other gases that can be traced back to the formation period of Mars. By studying these trace gases, scientists can better assess the risks of future manned missions to Mars, such as the size and toxicity of Martian dust particles.
These gas samples are of great significance to Mars scientists, said Justin Simon, an earth chemist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Simon is one of a dozen international experts who helped determine which samples the Perseverance should collect.
Even scientists who do not study Mars will be interested in this, as it will reveal the process of how planets form and evolve, Simon said.
According to TapTechNews, these samples are being collected and stored as part of the Mars Sample Return Program and will eventually be sent back to Earth. However, considering the cost and complexity of the sample return mission, it will be many years before scientists can analyze these samples in the laboratory, so NASA recently called for a simpler and faster way to return samples to Earth.
If the samples are sent back to Earth, scientists will extract the gases and freeze them to solid or liquid, a similar process was used to study the air in the samples collected from the moon by the Apollo 17 mission.
For Mars samples, researchers also hope to better understand how much water vapor is suspended near the surface of Mars and why ice forms at specific locations on Mars. The water vapor captured in the air samples may reveal how Mars' water cycle has evolved over time.