Evidence indicates that Mars billions of years ago was a completely different planet than the one we know today, imagine a vast system of rivers, lakes, even oceans, covering the surface fed by a dense atmosphere and capable of maintaining temperatures suitable for existence. of liquid water, but 3.5 billion years later the reality is very different. Today Mars is an arid landscape practically devoid of its ancient atmosphere.
The big question that scientists have been trying to answer is where that crucial atmosphere went. According to a new study published in the journal Science Advances, the answer could be under the surface of the red planet. The research suggests that up to 80% of the Carbon dioxide that formed the ancient atmosphere of Mars could be trapped in sedimentary rocks, specifically in clay minerals, called smectites, that cover the planet's surface.
Now the most fascinating thing, these scientists believe that this trapped carbon could be extracted and transformed into rocket fuel, this would open the way to a new era of interplanetary travel allowing round trip missions between Earth and Mars in a much more practical way. and efficient.
MIT geology professor Oliver Jagoutz, co-author of the study, explains that similar processes occurred here on Earth, where large amounts of atmospheric CO2 were absorbed and transformed into methane, being stored in minerals such as smectites, and the idea is that this may also have occurred on Mars.
That “methane” could still be there, trapped in these clays, says Jagoutz. Suggesting that this discovery could be crucial for the future of space exploration, this study raises new questions and new possibilities for the future of space exploration.
It would be possible that in the near future missions to Mars could use these underground carbon deposits as fuel, reducing the need to load large amounts of resources from Earth, one thing is certain, Mars still has many mysteries to discover and each new discovery tells us. gets a little closer to transforming science fiction into reality.
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