Tag: red planet

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Captures Its First Images of Mars, Reveals Intriguing Details

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, known for capturing some incredible images of the universe, has presented us with new pictures of our neighbouring planet, Mars. The telescope captured its first images and spectra of Mars on September 5. The James Webb Space Telescope, an international collaboration between NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), was launched in December 2021. Last month, the telescope gave us a detailed view of the Jupiter, showcasing auroras and rings surrounding the planet.

In an official blog today, NASA shared the news showcasing the Webb Telescope‘s first images of the red planet. According to NASA‘s tweet on the telescope’s official Twitter handle, one of the close-up images gives details about the Huygens Crater, dark volcanic Syrtis Major and Hellas Basin.

Webb’s first images of Mars are captured by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). These images show a region of the planet’s eastern hemisphere at two different wavelengths or colours of infrared light.

According to NASA, the Mars team will use this imaging and spectroscopic data to explore regional differences across the planet in the future. They will also look out for traces of different gases in the planet’s atmosphere.

Last month, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) captured some intriguing photos of Jupiter, featuring some magnificent auroras on the planet. These images were also clicked using the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) of the observatory.

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NASA’s Mars InSight Lander Data Reveals Surprising Results About Possibility of Life on the Red Planet

A new study has curbed the chances of humans finding life on Mars. According to the study, conducted by the researchers at the University of California San Diego, Mars’ subsurface has little to no evidence of water. The surprising results were derived after studying the seismic data from NASA’s Mars InSight mission. The Mars InSight lander is located on Elysium Planitia, a flat smooth surface near the Martian equator. The InSight lander studies the subsurface of the red planet digging roughly 300 meters beneath the landing site.

The seismic data revealed that there is negligible evidence of water. “We find that Mars‘ crust is weak and porous. The sediments are not well-cemented. And there is no ice or not much ice filling the pore spaces,” said Vashan Wright, co-author of the study, in a statement.

Wright, however, stated that these findings do not eliminate the idea of ice existing or contributing to other minerals.

Researchers believe that water does not exist in the form of liquid but is part of the mineral structure. The study’s co-author, Michael Manga, from the University of California Berkeley, has explained that if water makes contact with rocks, it produces a brand-new set of minerals like clay.

Addressing the observation, Michael added, “There is some cement, but the rocks are not full of cement. The lack of cemented sediments points to an acute water scarcity 300 metres below the landing site of InSight’s probe spacecraft.”

The Mars InSight mission was initiated in 2018 with the aim to study Mars’ quakes. The instruments, on the lander, measure the vibrations on the surface of the red planet.

Wright and the team have studied these vibrations using rock physics computer modelling to deduce which type of minerals these vibrations travel through.

Different minerals would affect the seismic velocities in a certain way. Simulations that the rock model ran showed that the subsurface consisting mostly of uncemented minerals. Scientists believe that if life existed on Mars, it would be on the subsurface since it will have a protective layer to keep out radiation. Now, the researchers are looking forward to a sample-return mission that would make it easy for them to study the surface better.

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Mars Meteorite Analysed for Signs Of Life: Here’s What Scientists Found

The biggest question that scientists are grappling with in relation to Mars is this: Did the Red Planet ever host life? While the quest for finding life on Mars is underway, and with more vigour than ever before, it is unlikely any conclusive result will be found soon. NASA aims to bring back Martian samples by 2030 and only analysing those will make clear whether life existed on the planet. However, scientists are studying material from Mars – in the form of meteorites. Researchers from Lund University in Sweden have investigated a 1.3 billion-year-old meteorite from Mars and found it had limited exposure to water. In other words, the existence of life at that specific time and place was unlikely.

The scientists have used neutron and X-ray tomography, the same technology that will be used to study the samples that are being collected by the Perseverance rover and will be brought back from Mars, to reach their conclusion. They used the technology to understand whether there was any major hydrothermal system, which is generally favourable for life. X-ray tomography is a common method to study an object without damaging it. Neutron tomography was used because neutrons are sensitive to hydrogen.

Hydrogen is always of interest in finding traces of life on another planet because water (H2O) is a prerequisite for life as we know it. “Since water is central to the question of whether life ever existed on Mars, we wanted to investigate how much of the meteorite reacted with water when it was still part of the Mars bedrock,” Josefin Martell, geology doctoral student at Lund University, said in a statement.

The findings show a fairly small part of the meteorite seems to have reacted with water. This means that the martian crust sample “could not have provided habitable environments that could harbour any life on Mars” during that specific period, the scientists write in the study published in the journal Science Advances.

They hope that their findings will help NASA scientists in studying the samples when they are brought back to Earth.

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