Since the dawn of human civilization, technology has been on the rise, evolving along with culture and society. Throughout the entirety of it, one common goal has persisted – the advancement of the human race. Now, more than ever, modern technology is at an all-time high – technological innovations and investments are made daily. Moreover, along with these advancements, comes our better understanding of the universe that we live in. The great minds of our modern society have once again looked upwards, towards the skies, seeking answers to age-long existential questions. The idea of an age of space discovery and exploration is no longer far-fetched.
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover was launched in November 2011 and was designed to take part in the exploration of the Gale crater in Mars. The space program’s primary investments for the car-sized Mars rover were used to investigate Martian geology and climate. In August 2012, Curiosity landed inside the Gale Crater and has been operational since then.
Here are five valuable findings that Curiosity has discovered on Mars so far.
Evidence of Persistent Liquid Water in the Past
Curiosity set out to explore Mars’s environmental conditions, which include the inspection of the role of water for favorable conditions for microbial life. To the credit of NASA’s team, they found rounded pebbles which looked like it rolled downstream in a river for at least a few miles. They hypothesized the river to be at least ankle-to-hip deep. Moreover, when curiosity reached Mount Sharp, they found a rock, a thousand feet tall, which likely, initially formed as mud at the bottom of inter-linked shallow lakes. The team has effectively found evidence for the existence of rivers and lakes, which had persisted within the Gale crater spanning over millions of years.
A Suitable Home for Life
More than the evidence of water, Curiosity brought further insurance for a suitable home for microbial life. Much to the delight of the exploration team, they found traces of nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, carbon, and phosphorus – and as we know, these five are key ingredients for life. Moreover, they also found clay minerals and traces of salt in a powder sample Curiosity drilled from Yellowknife Bay. This would suggest the probability of drinkable water in the area.
Evidence of Organic Carbon in Mars Rocks
If there’s anything we’ve learned in the origins of life on our planet, it’s that life first came about from the formation of organic molecules. One of the key breakthroughs the exploration team has achieved is the finding of organic carbon within a powder sample from a rock collected from Mount Sharp and its surrounding sprawling plains. Although this does not necessarily correlate to the existence of present or past life on Mars, we can take solace in the insurance that the team has found the building blocks necessary for the beginnings of one.
Methane in Mars’s Atmosphere
Curiosity has also detected atmospheric methane, which varies throughout the different seasons of the planet. To be more precise, the exploration team observed that the methane in the atmosphere grew ten-fold within the span of two months. The team holds this finding to such an exciting degree because methane can be produced by living organisms. Another alternative for this finding would be through a chemical reaction between water and rocks. Nonetheless, this only piles up to the evidence of a sustainable life within Mars.
Radiation Which Poses a Threat to Human Life
In great contrast to the findings of organic molecules and methane on Mars, Curiosity also detected hazardous levels of radiation on the planet. To the credit of the exploration team, the Radiation Assessment Detector, or RAD, aboard Curiosity detected a couple of radiation types that could prove to be a health risk to astronauts. One being the solar energetic particles rooting from the sun’s solar flares, and the other is galactic cosmic rays which originate from supernova explosions and other high-energy events.
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