A month after having formalized the presence of liquid water on salt the soil of Mars, NASA Thursday lifted a little more light on the red planet. According to recent measurements, the solar wind – that occur during an eruption – could indeed have allowed gas to escape its atmosphere into space, creating the largest arid desert that we know today .
Subject to all fantasies and all the speculation since its first telescopic observation in the seventeenth century, the nearest neighbor of the Earth gradually reveals its secrets after more than forty years of scientific exploration.
infancy in the 1960s with overflights conducted by the US probe Mariner 4, 6 and 7, the conquest of Mars began in 1971. Launched in May, the probe Mariner 9, designed by NASA, becomes November 14 the first terrestrial satellite to settle into orbit around the planet.
“Le Parisien” of November 15, 1971.
A coarse clusters rocks and dust
In August 1979, the first picture of the surface reaches up to the Earth, taken by the Viking probe 2. Humans discover a coarse soil, covered with pebbles , dust and what appears to be a thin layer of ice.
“Le Parisien” of August 9, 1979.
Who said “ice” immediately think “water”, the absolute condition for the development of life. In 1997, the Sojourner robot gives a first answer. Yes, water sank “torrential streams” on Mars … there are more than a billion years. Meanwhile, NASA discovered bacteria in a Martian meteorite fell on Earth there are about 13 000 years. A good start, but not enough to hope to find little green men as fantasized.
“Le Parisien” of July 9, 1997.
The exploration continues with Mars Polar Lander in 1999 and Opportunity and Mars Express in 2004. The revelations fall one after the other. Opportunity discovered traces of an ancient salty ocean. Mars Express did better by uncovering tremendous amounts of water as ice at the south pole of the planet. At that time, NASA plans to send men there … between 2010 and 2012.
“Le Parisien” of 24 January 2004.
Mars is not so red
Until then appeared in black and white, our neighbor returns to form as of 2005, under the leadership of a few enthusiasts, like the French Olivier Goursac, working from images collected by space agencies. The red planet is not a scarlet desert. Its soil is pretty ocher, orange or brown, resembling nothing so much to the Sahara Desert.
“Le Parisien” of 24 June 2005.
Curiosity took over in 2012. With its 2.7 m long and 899 kg, it takes with him 75 kg of survey instruments and measurement, more than 10 times qu’Opportunity. August 6 at 7:31 French time it lands on the soil of Mars and allows some selfies transferred to NASA. His first discovery: the Martian soil composition is very similar to that of Hawaii. The question is when it will be possible to go a vacation
“Le Parisien” of 5 November 2012 & gt
.. Come discuss and ask questions on our forums!
No comments:
Post a Comment