A lot of data from Mars point out that the neighboring Red Planet was once much more watery, like our planet. Today, however, there appears to be no liquid water on the planet’s surface and scientists have suggested many possible explanations for the planet’s current situation.
There’s a possibility that a period of volcanic activity altered the climate, while another popular theory suggests the planet’s lack of a strong magnetic field let all the water drift out into space. A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests a more basic reason for the lack of water on Mars: it’s just too small in size.
Mars lost more water during formation than Earth
“Mars’ fate was decided from the beginning,” said Kun Wang, a senior author of the study. “There is likely a threshold on the size requirements of rocky planets to retain enough water to enable habitability and plate tectonics, with a mass exceeding that of Mars.”
Wang and colleagues studied the number of potassium isotopes present in the meteorites from Mars, using the element as a kind of tracer for more volatile molecules, including water. The team learned that during its formation, Mars lost more water compared to Earth, while retaining more life-supporting molecules than smaller, drier bodies like the Moon.
Making human base on the Red Planet
Scientists at the University of Manchester have suggested a new method to convert the soil on the Red Planet into a stronger material to construct future colonies on Mars. They suggest mixing human blood, sweat, urine, and even tears with Moon or Martian dust to make an adhesive that can be used to build (3D print) entire structures.
In other words, scientists suggest we could use astronauts’ blood, sweat, and tears to build homes in a distant world. It’s a creative approach to use resource utilization that could allow future Martian settlers to bypass the expensive process of sending materials all the way from Earth. We can see more such innovative ideas in the future to cut the cost of missions to distant worlds.
