Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) orbiter initiated by NASA has already revealed much about Mars' atmosphere. Now as per the latest report MAVEN has discovered metal on the sphere of the red planet. The insight was confirmed by Joseph Grebowsky, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who stated that MAVEN has been able to spot iron, magnesium and sodium ions in their electrically charged form.
According to NASA, Grebowsky said "MAVEN has made the first direct detection of the permanent presence of metal ions in the ionosphere of a planet other than Earth," The group of scientists involved in this mission claimed that this innovation would act as a potential standpoint in finding out the reason why Mars turned into a cold desert instead of its earlier life supported atmosphere which it probably had billions of years ago.
The metal is said to be derived from the small meteoroids, a type of interplanetary dust which rain constantly on Martian atmosphere and burns up simultaneously, as per a report by Space. The report further suggested that the available metal in the sphere of Mars acts differently than what can be seen on Earth, as per the detection reports fetched by MAVEN. The Study team further elaborated that molecules and atoms, being charged, gaze up in the dusty air of the red planet. There these charged particles clinch electrons from the metal atoms and eventually turn them into ions.
The team further stated that these dusty particles are very common components of the solar system. They further claimed that this the reason why NASA's spacecraft often faces halts in the Martian atmosphere while transporting radio signal. However, what can be considered as a good output for this, the findings has further extended MAVEN's mission on Mars in terms of finding out the permanent existence of these metals and more on the red planet.
