11:14.
The discovery of water on Mars announced Monday by NASA encourages the hope of life and provide a precious resource for human exploration of the planet.
They found water on Mars and find life expectancy grows
“We now have the possibility of going to the right places on Mars to eventually find life”, estimated John Grunsfeld, deputy administrator of the US space agency NASA.
“I think this will spur our engineers and scientists to invent instruments capable of detecting life, “added exastronauta.
” We have the ability to go to Mars to study these issues and answer life. This is no longer an abstract issue but good concrete, “he said as Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA.
The scientists explained that the possibility of microbial life on Mars is” very large “and there are probably layer groundwater.
“For me, the likelihood of microbial life below the surface of Mars is very high,” judged Alfred McEwen, a researcher at the University of Arizona, principal responsible Imaging System (HiRISE) aboard US spacecraft that made this finding.
This life can probably only exist underground because the surface of Mars is inhospitable, mainly by ultraviolet radiation from the sun that would destroy any life that as we know, the astronomers explained, pointing to the low density of the Martian atmosphere, consisting of 95% carbon dioxide (CO2), which offers no protection.
Michael Myer, Chief Scientific Program Mars exploration at NASA, said for his part that is ignored where the responsibility for these stelae that appear on steep slopes in some places the red planet during the less cold seasons, before disappearing water comes at low temperature . This phenomenon was first observed in 2011
-. Growing plants –
The water could be found in the basement, and it does not rain on Mars, he said. And it is “imperative” to find other more affordable places in the world where the same phenomenon is occurring and find the sources of underground fresh water.
“We suspect that these places exist only because we have some scientific evidence to make us think that
“said John Grunsfeld, adding that” this will be a fascinating exploration path in the future. “If there is enough water on Mars then it will be possible to grow plants indoors inflatable greenhouses, predicted scientific. As plants convert carbon dioxide (CO2), abundant on Mars, oxygen, this could be a useful mechanism for future explorers, allowing both produce food and achieve a breathable atmosphere, he said.
The NASA managers are confident in the capabilities of the next explorations, planned over the next five years to discover more secrets of the red planet. This would advance the future human exploration programs.
The NASA launched in March 2016 and a new robot, named InSight, which first makes exploring the bowels of Mars through a piercing radar. This instrument “might discover aquifers, which would be a huge step forward” to prepare the necessary resources for future explorers, Grunsfeld said.
The European Space Agency (ESA) as part of its ExoMars program, in 2016 it plans to launch a satellite that will orbit around Mars, which will continue in 2018, in a program with Russia, a robot and a scanning platform in the planet’s surface. The aim is to detect methane and other signs of biological activity.
Finally, in 2020, the United States will send a new exploration robot Curiosity similar to but more sophisticated, with the goal of taking soil samples Mars and return to Earth.
The US space agency plans to send the first mission to Mars not inhabited before 2030.
(FIN) AFP / MPM
Posted: 29/09/2015
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