How Mars became uninhabitable: NASA’s Curiosity rover investigates

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aria-label="breadcrumbs" class="rank-math-breadcrumb"><p><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos</a><span class="separator"> » </span><a href="/space/exploration/">Space Exploration</a></p></nav> <section class="article-container cols-4 md-cols-1 cols-gap-1 padding-bottom-4"> <article class="col col-span-3 post-313312 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-exploration category-astrobiology category-astronomy category-chemistry category-earth-sciences category-news category-space category-water tag-astronomy tag-curiosity tag-life-on-mars tag-mars"> <header class="rows rows-gap"> <h1 class="entry-title row">How Mars became uninhabitable: Curiosity investigates</h1> <div class="row primary-image has-featured-image " data-featured-image="nasa-new-insights-into.jpg"> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content cols-6 md-cols-1 cols-gap-1 margin-top-1"> <div class="content-left-sidebar cols-1 col"> <section class="contributors md-cols-1 rows-gap"> <div class="row post-date"> <span class="published-date">October 9, 2024</span> </div> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/evrim-yazgin/" class="author row md-hide"> <img src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCA0MDAgNDAwIiB3aWR0aD0iNDAwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjQwMCIgZGF0YS11PSIlMkZ3cC1jb250ZW50JTJGdXBsb2FkcyUyRjIwMjIlMkYwOCUyRlRoZS1TY2llbmNlLUV4Y2hhbmdlLTI0LmpwZyIgZGF0YS13PSI0MDAiIGRhdGEtaD0iNDAwIiBkYXRhLWJpcD0iIj48L3N2Zz4=" data-spai="1" alt="Evrim Yazgin" width="200" /><noscript data-spai="1"><img src="https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/spai/q_lossy+ret_img+to_auto/cosmosmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Science-Exchange-24.jpg" data-spai-egr="1" alt="Evrim Yazgin" width="200" /></noscript> <div class="bio"> <h3>Evrim Yazgin</h3> <p>Cosmos science journalist</p> </div> </a> <div id="author-name" class="hide"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/evrim-yazgin/" class="bio"> By Evrim Yazgin </a> </div> <div class="favourite__wrapper row cols"> <button class="showDialog simplefavorite-button" aria-label="Favourite button"> </button> </div> </section> </div> <div class="primary-content cols-1 col-span-5 col"> <div class="flexible-content "> <div class="copy"> <p>NASA’s Curiosity rover has found new details in Mars’s Gale crater which helps explain how the Red Planet went from one with a climate with liquid water to the inhospitable place it is today.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" width="1200" height="675" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCAxMjAwIDY3NSIgd2lkdGg9IjEyMDAiIGhlaWdodD0iNjc1IiBkYXRhLXU9IiUyRndwLWNvbnRlbnQlMkZ1cGxvYWRzJTJGMjAyNCUyRjEwJTJGbmFzYS1uZXctaW5zaWdodHMtaW50by5qcGciIGRhdGEtdz0iMTIwMCIgZGF0YS1oPSI2NzUiIGRhdGEtYmlwPSIiPjwvc3ZnPg==" data-spai="1" alt="Artist's concept of an early mars with liquid water on its surface" class="wp-image-313207" title="how mars became uninhabitable: curiosity investigates 1"><noscript data-spai="1"><img decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" width="1200" height="675" src="https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/spai/q_lossy+ret_img+to_auto/cosmosmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/nasa-new-insights-into.jpg" data-spai-egr="1" alt="Artist's concept of an early mars with liquid water on its surface" class="wp-image-313207" srcset="https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/spai/q_lossy+ret_img+to_auto/cosmosmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/nasa-new-insights-into.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/spai/q_lossy+ret_img+to_auto/cosmosmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/nasa-new-insights-into-600x338.jpg 600w, https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/spai/q_lossy+ret_img+to_auto/cosmosmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/nasa-new-insights-into-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/spai/q_lossy+ret_img+to_auto/cosmosmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/nasa-new-insights-into-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" title="how mars became uninhabitable: curiosity investigates 1"></noscript><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Artist’s concept of an early Mars with liquid water on its surface. Credit: NASA/MAVEN/The Lunar and Planetary Institute.</figcaption></figure> <p>It may help scientists determine if there ever was <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/exploration/perseverance-rover-mars-rock-ancient-life/">life on Mars</a>.</p> <p>Evidence gained by rovers on Mars makes the pretty clear case that, at one point in the ancient past, <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/astronomy/mars-liquid-water-underground/">Mars had liquid water</a> on its surface. And liquid water, it turns out, was pretty widespread on the planet.</p> <p>Liquid water is considered a prerequisite for the existence of life. It is certainly necessary for any plans for humans to colonise other planets.</p> <p>But the wet period on Mars is believed to have ended about 3 billion years ago.</p> <p>Today, Mars is frigid and inhospitable.</p> <div class="advert ad-in-content ad-mobile auh-250"><div id="adn-00000000001fc2ca-i0p0" style="display: none"></div></div> <p>A new study <a href="https://pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2321342121" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em> uses data from Curiosity’s instruments to measure the composition of the Martian soil. The researchers focused on the different isotopes of atoms in carbon-rich minerals.</p> <div class="in-content-area related-box-wrapper content-third content-right margin-bottom-1"> <div class="gradient-title">Read More</div> <ul class="related-box article-listing"> <li class="cols"> <div class="article article-post"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/astronomy/kuiper-belt-unexpected-objects-solar-system/" class="thumbnail ar-16-9" aria-label="Article link"> <span data-spai-bg-on="1" class="image" style="background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCAxMjAwIDY3NSIgd2lkdGg9IjEyMDAiIGhlaWdodD0iNjc1IiBkYXRhLXU9Imh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGY29zbW9zbWFnYXppbmUuY29tJTJGd3AtY29udGVudCUyRnVwbG9hZHMlMkYyMDI0JTJGMDklMkZHU0ZDXzIwMTcxMjA4X0FyY2hpdmVfZTAwMDk0Nm9yaWcuanBnIiBkYXRhLXc9IjEyMDAiIGRhdGEtaD0iNjc1IiBkYXRhLWJpcD0iIj48L3N2Zz4=)"></span> </a> <div class="article-content has-very-light-grey-background-color"> <a href="/space/astronomy/"> <span class="category space-color"> Astronomy </span> </a> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/astronomy/kuiper-belt-unexpected-objects-solar-system/"> <h3>Unexpected objects in the Kuiper Belt revealed</h3> </a> </div> </div> </li> </ul> </div> <p>Isotopes are atoms with the same number of protons, but different numbers of neutrons. They share the same chemical properties but can have different physical properties such as radioactivity.</p> <a href="https://link.cosmosmagazine.com/OP59" class="newsletter-cta" data-device="mobile"> <img decoding="async" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCAzMDAgMjUwIiB3aWR0aD0iMzAwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjI1MCIgZGF0YS11PSIlMkZ3cC1jb250ZW50JTJGdXBsb2FkcyUyRjIwMjQlMkYwMyUyRldlZWtseS1DYXRjaHVwLTMwMHgyNTAtMS5wbmciIGRhdGEtdz0iMzAwIiBkYXRhLWg9IjI1MCIgZGF0YS1iaXA9IiI+PC9zdmc+" data-spai="1" alt="Newsletter" title="how mars became uninhabitable: curiosity investigates 2"><noscript data-spai="1"><img decoding="async" src="https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/spai/q_lossy+ret_img+to_auto/cosmosmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Weekly-Catchup-300x250-1.png" data-spai-egr="1" alt="Newsletter" title="how mars became uninhabitable: curiosity investigates 2"></noscript> </a> <p>“The isotope values of these carbonates point toward extreme amounts of evaporation, suggesting that these carbonates likely formed in a climate that could only support transient liquid water,” says lead author David Burtt of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.</p> <p>Burtt says this result puts a dent in the prospect of finding evidence of past life on the Martian surface, even in its ancient history.</p> <p>“Our samples are not consistent with an ancient environment with life (biosphere) on the surface of Mars, although this does not rule out the possibility of an underground biosphere or a surface biosphere that began and ended before these carbonates formed.”</p> <div class="advert ad-in-content ad-mobile auh-250"><div id="adn-00000000001fc2ca-i1p0" style="display: none"></div></div> <p>Carbonates are proven to act as a climate record. They retain signatures – in the form of isotope abundances – of temperature, water acidity, and the composition of water and atmosphere.</p> <p>The results from Gale crater present two formation mechanisms for the carbonates.</p> <p>Either they formed through a series of wet-dry cycles, or they formed in very salty water under cold, icy conditions.</p> <p>“These formation mechanisms represent two different climate regimes that may present different habitability scenarios,” says co-author Jennifer Stern of NASA Goddard. “Wet-dry cycling would indicate alternation between more-habitable and less-habitable environments, while cryogenic temperatures in the mid-latitudes of Mars would indicate a less-habitable environment where most water is locked up in ice and not available for chemistry or biology, and what is there is extremely salty and unpleasant for life.”</p> <div style><a href="https://link.cosmosmagazine.com/Q0f2"><p align="center"><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter 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How Mars became uninhabitable: NASA’s Curiosity rover investigates