On Monday, November 18, NASA is slated to launch its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission. For those who have ever wondered what Red Planet looked like billions of years ago, MAVEN is set to produce your answers. However, for those of us who can’t wait for the mission’s data, artists at the Goddard Conceptual Image Lab have create a 3 minute video journey that spans the planet’s 4 billion year climate evolution.
According to NASA, “Liquid water cannot exist pervasively on the Martian surface today due to the low atmospheric pressure and surface temperature”. However, discoveries made by numerous missions to the planet have unearthed evidence Mars’ climate wasn’t always the same as it is today.
“There are characteristic dendritic structured channels that, like on Earth, are consistent with surface erosion by water flows. The interiors of some impact craters have basins suggesting crater lakes, with many showing connecting channels consistent with water flows into and out of the crater.” Says MAVEN’s chief scientist Josheph Grebowsky. “Small impact craters have been removed with time and larger craters show signs of erosion by water before 3.7 billion years ago. And sedimentary layering is seen on valley walls. Minerals are present on the surface that can only be produced in the presence of liquid water, e.g., hematite and clays".
While there are several theories postulating how Mars lost its atmosphere, Grebowsky holds that “The leading theory is that Mars lost its intrinsic magnetic field that was protecting the atmosphere from direct erosion by the impact of the solar wind."
In the next few years scientists like Grebowsky will be learning a lot more about Martian climate change thanks to the MAVEN mission. If all goes according to plan the craft should begin orbiting the Red Planet on September 22, 2014. Shortly thereafter the world will know much more about how the Martian atmosphere collapsed.
Images and Video Courtesy of NASA