Researchers have observed that water vapor escapes high into the thin atmosphere of Mars and offers new clues as to whether the red planet could even house life.
The traces of ancient valleys and river channels indicate that liquid water once flowed over the surface of Mars. Today, the water is mostly trapped in the icebergs of the planet or buried underground.
But some of it evaporates, in the form of hydrogen leaking from the atmosphere, according to new research co-authored in the journal Science Advances by two scientists at the British University.
They detected the vapor by analyzing the light moving through the atmosphere of Mars using a tool called Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery.
The device travels aboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, a joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Russian Roscosmos.
“This fantastic instrument gives us a glimpse of water isotopes never before seen in the atmosphere of Mars as a function of time and place,” said Manish Patel, senior lecturer in planetary sciences at the Open University.
“Measuring water isotopes is an important element in understanding how Mars as a planet has lost its water over time, and therefore how the habitability of the planet has changed throughout its history,” he said.
It’s been a busy week for Mars research.
On Wednesday, Chinese Tianwen-1 probe entered the planet’s orbit after being launched in southern China last year, in the latest advance for Beijing’s ambitious space program.
The previous day, the United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe also successfully penetrated the orbit of Mars, making history as the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.