Water Vapor Seen Rapidly Escaping From Mars

Already a desert planet, Mars is still losing the water it has left at a far greater speed than astronomers expected. Researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research think they know what’s happening.

Mars was once home to vast oceans, rivers, and streams. Over the course of billions of years, these bodies of water were lost to space, transforming the red planet into the desert world we see today.

Despite this, some water remains on Mars, hidden beneath the surface, and at the ice caps which bookend the planet. This water is still being lost to space, and a new study shows the rate at which this already-parched world is shedding its remaining water is significantly greater than astronomers originally believed.

Sunlight heats the Martian poles, causing ice to sublimate (turn directly from solid to gas, like dry ice on Earth), and enter the atmosphere. This moisture is carried to higher, colder altitudes by wind. When these molecules encounter dust, they can condense into clouds, preventing further lifting.

However, if there is not enough dust in the Martian atmosphere, water can collect in layers where clouds would naturally form.

Under these conditions, water molecules continue to rise into the upper atmosphere, where they encounter ultraviolet light from the Sun, breaking the molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. These molecules, especially hydrogen, can easily escape to space, resulting in a net loss of water from the Red Planet.

We had Mars, we had Fun, we had Seasons in the Sun…

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