Mars – our red neighboring planet – has fascinated astronomers for as long as astronomy has existed. Once upon a time, the conditions were similar to those we know here on Earth. Today it is wasteland, hostile to life. This is because the atmosphere has been eroding for four billion years.
A research group in Abu Dhabi is interested in this. Using new images from a space probe, it has recently become possible to create a holistic map of Mars. In a level of detail never before existed:
The researchers at the Center for Space Science at New York University Abu Dhabi used only images from the Al-Amal of Hope probe of the United Arab Emirates’ Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) for their atlas. The EMM is the first interplanetary mission of the United Arab Emirates and the Arab world and was commissioned in 2014 by the country’s leaders.
Al-Amal launched from Japan on July 20, 2020, and entered Mars orbit seven months later on February 9, 2021. So she’s been observing the planet for about two years — or a Martian year. She will continue her science mission to explore Mars through mid-2023, with the option of extending it for another Martian year.
The information will not only map Mars more accurately. They should also provide a more detailed insight into the planet’s thinning atmosphere, which has led to cooling and drying over the past four billion years. This should help the international scientific community to better understand the atmospheric processes on Earth. (lzo)
Source: Blick
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